Heating Up!!

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

This week was a little bit of a step up from last week.  We have been stepping up our game and heating up, gaining chemistry, and we are doing better.  We are still not where I would like to be, but we are improving and working hard.  The work is going really great in this area too.  Although this was the first week in a while that we didn´t have a baptism (I know, it almost seemed dissapointing), we have a baptism planned for every single weekend until the end of the cycle, and I am hoping and praying with everything I got that they all go through.  Some are great, some need a little more attention/work.  

Last Monday night we had a family home evening with Henry, and a ton of his family!  They even invited Luis over so we had 2 of our recent converts there, it was awesome, we have been truly blessed with some really cool investigators and converts in this area, and it is only beginning!  We had a really good lesson on reading the Book of Mormon and builiding our own testimonies, and it was fun.  After that, Elder Achá had a sweet game idea, so we played that, and Henry lost so he had to dance in front of us all! Ugh I wish I had my camera, it was SOOO funny.  We had a great time, and we had an even BETTER time afterwards, because one of the guys offered to take us out for tacos that night!  It was a perfect night, we got some tacos, took them back to the house and Elder Achá and I were singing and dancing to celebrate the perfect night.  

We have had some other pretty cool experiences this week, and I really am soo grateful for some of our awesome investigators.  The family of Yael, (His mom Elida, and his sister Genesis) have gotten super interested in our church now and have a baptism date of their own! They have lots of questions which is awesome because it shows they are really interested and they understand everything soo well! Yael has been doing AWESOME since his confirmation, really studying the scriptures and trying to learn more, he will be a great missionary one day.  Ramiro and his family are awesome too, we are going to try this week to put a baptism date with his daughter, Abigail, so they can both get baptized together in a couple weeks.  I love this area a ton.  Sister Conception is still helping us out a lot. I use scriptures to answer questions and doubts of investigators. Elder Achá told me I had a bunch of scriptures and seemed super prepared haha.  It is cool having the Spirit just tell me what to say and things just flow.

Another highlight of the week was on Friday, when we did Divisions with our zone leaders.  I love Elder Achá but it was nice to meet with someone else who has experience in the mission already!  Elder Matsen, who is also from Arizona, came here to my area with me and we had an amazing day. We literally talked the ENTIRE day when we were walking around to different appointments, about sports, girls, the future, and he was basically like my best friend for the day.  I really hope I get him as a companion, or someone like him one day because having an exciting and motivated companion like him made me just love every second of the missionary work, and I was so happy.  He has a ton of contagious, positive, energy and we contacted a lot too.  We got some doors slammed in our faces and people yelling some words what will remain unwritten at us, and also had a lot of success.  I think Satan was really trying to get at us, but it didn´t phase us at all.  We  went with a lot of our investigators who have baptism dates and some who need some help.  One time when we were contacting, we found a lady who was really accepting of us.  After talking and meeting her for a while, we quickly learned she had lost a brother just a month before, and I wasn´t happy for her situation, but I felt what Alma felt when he said in Alma 17:29 "(My) heart was swollen within me with joy" because I knew exactly what she needed to find peace and comfort in her life, and we talk about God´s wonderful Plan of Salvation with her and how she can see her brother again through this plan.  I could definitely feel the Spirit in that lesson, and I hope she could feel some of that joy and comfort as well.  We couldn´t think of a better way to end the night then to go for tacos al pastor!  The tacos were great and we talked all night until it was time to go to bed.  In the morning before we finished divisions, we went to the church to play basketball for our exercise.  It was soo fun, he is super competitive and athletic so it was some good competition, but I beat him in an intense game of 21 and HORSE. It was a successful and fun day, but I quickly adapted to being with Elder Achá again. 

On Saturday, we did a district attack in La Paz, an area in my district that has been struggling a little bit lately.  It turned out AWESOME! Our whole district split up to contact in that area, and in just an hour we found 7 new investigators! I think it got them a little more excited and I have been planning some more divisions with the guys in my district this week (Although I won´t be able to do them again with Elder Matsen for a while...).  That is okay though, I am excited for this week and we have a lot of work ahead! Especially because we had 7 investigators who came to church yesterday!!  I was super happy, and one of them was Javier.  I am really humbled and happy for Javier because he is finally having his baptism THIS SATURDAY!  He has been working with the missionaries for a little while now and is 17 years old.  At one time he had his baptism all planned out and was super excited and then his dad refused to sign his papers.  Since then he has gotten pretty disanimated and hasn´t really had that same desire anymore.  Everytime we are talking with him and his Dad walks through, he has us pause and it is kind of awkward.  There is a big lack of family support, even though his older sister, Sara, is a member too who is really cool.  But it has been a little hard to reanimate him for his baptism and remember why it is important.  But this Saturday is his 18th birthday.  It is kind of sad to see the lack of support and really made me think if I would be willing to follow faithfully in the church without the support with my amazing family.  It is a miracle to see the change in his life, the sacrifices he is willing to make for the Gospel, and maybe one day, one day, his dad will accept the Gospel too.  We will see, but I couldn´t be more excited for his baptism this Saturday!  

Well, those are some of the highlights of our week, a few interesting/funny thing happened too.  I have been teaching Elder Achá some English phrases and we have been reading the Engligh Book of Mormon together too, so it has been kind of funny.  Some of the little, funny phrases he remembers and says to me just make me laugh haha.  I also conquered the Habanero pepper this week!! Sister Jacinto thought it would be funny to sneak a little piece and sauce into my food one night, and when I ate it, I know something was wrong.  It burned more than anything I have ever eaten (and also wasn´t fun coming out either-I´ll spare the details) but I was super proud of myself.  I am becoming a MAN! I am actually starting to prefer a little kick or spice to some of the things I have been eating out here.  Before, I thought those people were crazy.  I also made myself some scrambled eggs yesterday morning and was super proud of myself.  I´m so independant haha.  I think I am going to start making some everyday.  We haven´t been going to the gym lately, but I told Elder Achá starting in May we are going and he is excited and willing to go with me.  That is one of my favorite things about him though, is that he is just so willing.  He just follows me everywhere, takes my advice, and really just a humble, awesome guy.  Today we went to the store, and just kind of been relaxing in the house, washing laundry and stuff and we were teaching eachother a few guitar songs.  There are things I like a lot about him and everyday I try to look for the positive in not only him, but even our investigators and members.  I know I have a ton of weaknesses too and the days when I am patient and positive are my happiest days.  One last thing that happened yesterday at church.  We got to church and the bishopric was looking a little stressed.  They came up to us and asked each of us to give a 10 minute talk in Sacrament meeting.  Well, we couldn´t really say no, so in just a few short minutes, I had to prepare a 10 minute talk, IN SPANISH.  I started off my talk with a good joke like always (No one here says jokes in their talks, they are all super nervous, it is really sad and boring) and everyone laughed.  I talked about the life of Jesus Christ and the Atonement and a lot of people told me I did a really good job.  I guess I really am a missionary now.

Well, next week we are going to the temple so we will be changing our P-Day and emailing on a different day.  I hope you guys all have an amazing week and enjoy the last few weeks of school before Summer Break!!  Love and miss you tons!

-Elder Clark

Season Opener- Building Chemistry

Well, I would be lying if I said that it wasn´t a rough start to the week.  After playing alongside Lopez last season for Team Atlicpac, it was a decent season and it was fun, but we didn´t quite achieve our maximum potential.  This season, we drafted a pure rookie out of Bolivia, Elder Achá to play alongside me here in Atlicpac.  I also received a new responsibility, not only am I training, but I am also District Leader! This season will be a lot of work for me, but I am pretty excited for it.  So yes, on Tuesday my son was born into the mission, his name is Elder Achá, he is from Bolivia, and we drafted maybe one of the best rookies in the league! He is already a really good missionary and I am excited to see him learn and grow these next two cycles.  I feel a lot of pressure as a trainer to teach him well, and also a district leader to help my district.  Sometimes I still feel like a rookie myself, having just under 6 months out here in the mission field, and I am pretty sure I personally will learn and grow a lot more than Elder Achá these next two cycles, and I am learning new lessons every day.  (Lessons like where our house is- We only got lost one time this week though, don´t worry ).  I am both nervous and excited for this wonderful, challenging experience ahead that Pres. Stutz gave me to learn and grow.  Here is the game recap.

So the first quarter was a little rough.  On Monday night, still in the off-season, I spent countless hours cleaning every corner of the house.  I was super tired, exhausted, and stressed, but I felt proud and happy my son would be coming to his first mission house clean and tidy!  I also got a little taste of what it is like being a Mom, I still remember those nights before leaving for Vacation when my Mom would get on her hands and knees and scrub every inch of tile of our WHOLE house! Woo, I don´t know how she did that and STILL drive 7 hours the next day to get to our family in Utah.  My Mom has definitely worked a lot of miracles in our family.  So Tuesday morning, we had changes and I met my son for the very first time! I was super excited and motivated at this point, and ready to work hard with him.  I felt really bad, we don´t know what happened, but he lost on of his bags as we were loading everything into the house.  I give him a lot of credit, he didn´t worry too much, and I thought it would eventually show up, but I guess it just disappeared.  But he is good, and happy, and a hard worker and I am super proud of him.  So in the first quarter here on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was a bit stressful, I realized I had to take a lead role in everything.  We let the other team make some big plays and got in a early deficit.  Although we were able to counter too, and had a lot of success. With the help of sister Conception, we found a few new investigators, and put a couple baptism dates.  

The second quarter was the roughest.  Our defense was really slacking of Thursday, and we let the other team catch fire.  I was getting super stressed and overwhelmed with reporting, trying my hardest to be a good dad, and really just doing things I was unfamiliar with.  It is also when I am the most stressed I am also the most homesick, so it was kind of a rough day, but I didn´t give up. I kept pushing and working, and trying to keep a positive attitude for Elder Achá and even though we finished with a career low in points scored in a quarter, we were ready and willing to go into Halftime, make adjustmests, and get out there the second half to overcome the 30 point defecit. I am sure Team Satan was cheering super loud and they were trying to get into my head, but I pushed it all away as we went into the locker room to regroup.  

In the locker room, I got some extra strength and energy I needed to get out there and lead my team to victory.  President called me on Fridayand told me something that really lifted my spirits.  As I was struggling and praying with all of my heart for comfort, guidance, and relief, the song came into my head "Count Your Many Blessings".  That is exactly was I started to do. I also recieved a TON of mail this week that really helped lift me up these days too.  I got a Easter Package from Natalie and the Eldridge family, and letters from Shalisa, Tahsha, Grandpa and Grandma Clark, and Cole!! Wow!! I was sooo happy, I know I say this every week, but I have THE BEST family and friends and fans in the world.  Even though it wasn´t a home game, I felt a huge support and love from my fans (family and friends) back home and I was extremely grateful for them.  Friday afternoon we couldn´t leave the house because it was a little dangerous so we had some extra time to weekly plan, study, and regroup.  That night I also listened to maybe one of my favortite conference talks of all time, Elder Holland "A High Priest of Good Things to Come".  This talk REALLY helped to comfort me. Woo, after all of these pep talks, support, and regrouping, we were ready to start the second half, motivated, with a positive attitude, and ready to keep working hard.  

The 3rd quarter gradually starting building up and we started heating up.  Saturday morning for our exercise we went to go play basketball at our church which really made me happy.  As we went with investigators, members, and our converts, I started feeling a deep love and support for and from them.  I was studying Charity and "The Pure Love of Christ" this week, and each and everyday I prayed to have more charity.  Not only could I feel more love and charity for my investigators, but I honestly could feel that each one of them was grateful for me, cared for me, and was here to help and support me.  Some of these people were the relief society president, sister Liz, Henry and Luz, and Sarah and her family, but more than anything, I started to realize how comfortable and how happy I was in this ward here, and really wouldn´t trade this experience for anything else.  So we outscored the other time in the 3rd quarter, and I went 4/5 on threes, and we entered the 4th quarter only down 15. 

Well, the 4th Quarter we were ON FIRE!!  Elder Achá and I started building more chemistry and more friendship for eachother.  For language study and in the streets I have started to teach him English since he really wants to learn, and at night he has been teaching me guitar! Let´s just say he is really musically talented, he plays guitar, piano, and the harmonica, and has taught me some really cool songs on Guitar so far.  He said he was in a band baefore his mission and he really misses his music, he was so happy when he found out I had a guitar.  Also, on Saturday, we had a baptism!! This is when the table really turned and we gained control of the game.  We had a baptism for a 10 year old boy named Luis Sandoval, and it was so amazing.  I made some more programs and it was really organized.  It was also the first time in my whole mission I have ever heard someone say that the water was a little TOO hot haha.  I think that is a good thing though.  We had a TON of support and not everyone could fit in the room for the baptismal font! It was by far the smoothest baptism yet, and Luis just said he felt so happy and clean.  I couldn´t help but smiling every time I saw the huge grin from ear to ear on his face, and I was so grateful we could bring ANOTHER sould unto Christ.  After the baptism, we stopped by a hamburger/taco shop on the way home.  Elder Achá tried the tacos "Al Pastor" for the very first time here in México and I was happy for him haha. I remember my Dad took me to get tacos with intestines the very first week I was here. For me, I enjoyed a nice, big, juicy, Hawaiin Hamburger, and we were really doing good.  We were playing super well together, happy, and ready for Crunch Time.

As the final 2 minutes were winding down, we were down just 6 points.  Sunday morning we went to church, and the whole week I was waiting and preparing myself for the Sacrament, and especially trying to remember the Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I had been studying about Him all week and went into Church with a great spirit.  We also passed by for some of our other investigators and had 6 come to church!  One thing I was not expecting was that I had to confirm someone... We had 3 confirmations this week, YES THREE!!! The Bishopric Member kind of put me on the spot on Sacrament meeting when he told me to come to the stand and confirm Yael.  I was super nervous, never confirmed anyone before and honestly, didn´t know what to say especially with the 140 ward members all listening.  I will admit, I really had the gift of tongues, and Heavenly Father´s help through his spirit as I confirmed Yael a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It was probably THE BEST Spanish I had ever spoken and as I gave the blessing my mind was filled with the things I needed to saw.  It also surprised me to see the Bishop, who confirmed Henry, even MORE nervous than I was.  His hands were shaking a lot, and he messed up 3 times haha.  The important thing was that we had all of their confirmations, they received the Holy Ghost, and the Spirit was really strong that meeting.  The gravity started to hit me that we confirmed 3 new members, and brought 3 new souls unto Christ, and "how great was my joy!" With this confirmation, we scored a jumper and then got a steal only down by 4.  With just 7 seconds left in the game, I made a three pointer and got fouled!  I knocked down the free throw and we were going to overtime! The Sacrament on Sunday was what was really special to me.  It was the strongest and most spiritual sacrament meetings I have ever had in my life.  As we sang "Oh How Wonderful" or "Cuan Asombroso Es", I couldn´t help it but tears just started flowing from my eyes.  It was as if the Heavens were opened, Heavenly Father had answered ALL of my prayers for the week, and I was filled with a feeling of warmth, comfort, and peace, on of the most overwhelming feelings I had ever had in my life.  I can´t even describe it with words, but as I took the bread and water, focused on the words of the sacrament prayer, and sat there crying, full of love for MY Savior, Jesus Christ, I was just overwhelmed with joy. Hope. Faith. Charity.  I remember thinking why I was crying, and I didn´t feel even a little bit of homesick or stress, I was just completely overwhelmed by the Spirit, and it was truly a feeling and experience I want to remember my whole life.  I hope I can always feel this love and appreciation for my savior, every week as I take the Sacrament.  I felt renewed and clean, and re-energized to work another week and the keep my baptismal covenant by obeying His commandments.  I truly felt the power of The Atonement in my life at this point.

Well, overtime went really great. We kept our intensity and heat, and finished the game strong.  In Sunday School we had to teach gospel doctrine class, something that was also stressing me out in the week because I had to lead and teach it without Elder Lopez to help me, but it was great as always, as I put my trust in the Lord.  Sunday night, reporting with my district/zone leaders went great, and we ended up finding 5 new investigators already for the upcoming week and put a baptism date with Yael´s Mom and sister who are both now really interested in the Gospel.  As Overtime (Sunday) wound down, I felt content and satisfied, and knew we had a great week´s work.  I was excited for the next game (This week) and ready with more chemistry and friendship with Elder Achá.  I must admit I have a pretty awesome district too, who helped my first district meeting go great by paticipating a lot as the walked about the attributes of Christ, and the problems we had as a district last cylce, and what we can do to fix them.  I love and give thanks for my Heavenly Father every single day for my wonderful ETERNAL family and friends back home who love and support me.  I am grateful for everything my Heavenly Father is teaching me, the Gift of Tongues (Even though I think I am slowly losing my English), and for this wonderful opportunity I have to serve a mission, be a trainer, and district leader.  I am excited and optimistic for what is ahead, and the time is going by SOO fast.  I had a GREAT Easter, really, REALLY enjoying my mini cadbury eggs (Thanks Aunt Natalie!), and even though the Easter Bunny didn´t come to hide eggs in the house, I felt the joy that comes from the knowledge of the Ressurection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I KNOW this Church is true and I hope you guys all have an awesome week!  Even though we had a rough start, I think the lesson I really learned was to just trust in my Heavenly Father, have patience and hope, and it ALWAYS works out.  Something I need to remember more in my life.  In the end we still won the ball came and Team Satan isn´t getting to us this week.  I will NEVER let my guard down.  Talk to you next week fam and friends, love and miss you TONS!

-Elder Clark

I´m going to be a DAD!!!

Dear Mom, Family, and Friends,

No, do not take the title of my email the wrong way, it just means that I am going to train the next two cycles!! Wooo I am so excited.  Last Monday night, I got the call from the Assistants, and they told me that I would be training!  I was super excited and after the phone call I went to shower and screamed YESS super loud, Lopez probably thought I was weird.  I always wanted to train since the day Elder Johnson started training me, and it surprised me it was so soon!  I was a little intimidated when I went to the trainers meeting and ALL of the other trainers have at least a year and a half in the mission or more!! The more it sunk in this week, I have felt a little overwhelmed, inadequate, and nervous, but I always go back to my intial reaction and am really so excited to see my first kid tomorrow in changes!!

Well, this week was pretty awesome too even though it started out a little rough.  Something made me super sick, on Monday night I woke up every 30 minutes.  I was throwing up, and I had... yes... Mexican Diarrhea.  Don´t worry you don´t want to know what that is.  But it was really hard to sleep, and it was the longest night ever.  I felt terrible in the morning, but, I got on my knees and told Heavenly Father I wanted to keep my goal and not miss a single second of work because of sickness.  Of course, if I am about to die, I will take a break, don´t worry Mom, but I told him I had the faith and I knew he wanted me to work so I prayed for the strength and energy to get through the day.  I got a Priesthood Blessing from Lopez, and yes the day was a little rough and I was drained, I made it through.  I was feeling a lot better then next night, slept the whole night through, and when I woke up, I was 100% better!! It was a miracle, and a tender mercy, and another reminder that Heavenly Father guides, loves, and blesses the Missionaries and missionary work.  

Well, we did it! We had our two baptisms this week and they were much more planned and organized than the one we had my second week here.  Honestly, somehow, there weren´t very many problems or obstacles, and everything went pretty smoothly.  We had a ton of people and support from the ward for Henry´s Baptism.  I made the programs which I was pretty proud of, Henry´s wife said they really enjoyed the programs and the Spirit was so strong.  I had the privledge of baptizing Henry and I was so happy for him.  In the night, we ordered Domino´s Pizza to celebrate!! We found out that Domino´s delivers to our house, so that was pretty cool.  The following night (Friday) we had a baptism for Yael!! Not as many people showed up, but it was still just as beautiful and great as always.  I made some more programs, we had hot water, and Yael´s whole family, who aren´t members either, all came to support him.  Actually his mom really enjoyed the service, and yesterday we went with her and set a baptism date with her!! Yael bore his testimony after the baptism and just said he felt super, super "Dope".  Haha, he couldn´t stop smiling, and we heard all week that he was so excited to get baptized.  Being just 14 years old, he was really curious and interested in our lessons always, and always read the pamphlets and chapters of the Book of Mormon we left with him.  He will be an awesome young man and hopefully a missionary one day.  This Sunday we couldn´t confirm them because it was Stake Conference, but this Sunday they will be confirmed as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I will always remember the faces so happy and bright of my converts coming out of the waters of baptism.  I hope to continue to be able to teach them, help them learn more, recieve the Priesthood, and in a year come back for their temple ordinances!!  

Well, I was always excited for the baptisms of Yael and Henry, people that Lopez and I were able to find, teach, and baptize together.  But, we are still blessed with so much success. We had a lot of investigators to hear President and Mama Stuz´s talks in Stake Conference, and they all said they really enjoyed them.  We are actually having ANOTHER baptism this coming weekend, so I am excited to let my kid baptize someone his first week here.  It is a 10 year old boy named Ruiz.  We also have 9 other baptism dates right now, we are still working with sister Conception lots to find more people, and I am pretty confident in 3 or 4 of our baptism dates withing the next 6 weeks!  This area is great, the members are awesome and excited, and God is blessing us with a lot of success.  I pray everyday to be guided by His Holy Ghost and I try hard to learn how I can listen better to His promptings.

This week we went on Divisons a few times to help me learn the area better, and I was surprised that I remembered how to get to an investigators house who lived super far away.  I have had a lot of confirmations this week from the Spirit that I am prepared and ready to train.  There are definitely times when I am super scared for this great responsibility, but I had some experiences this week that helped give me more confidence.  I listened to Elder Eyering´s talk in Priesthood session when he said that if we didn´t feel a little overwhelmed and inadequate at what the Lord had called us to do, he would be worried for us.  He said if we do feel these feelings, we have just a little glimpse of the trust that God has for each one of us.  That helped me feel a little better.  I also read in Alma 17 this week where it talked about how the Sons of Mosiah were called to preach against the lamanites, "A wild and hardened, and ferocious people".  But they certainly didn´t give up or get discouraged, in fact, they "gave themselves to much prayer and fasting" so that they could obtain a portion of the Spirit of God.  I have tried to follow their example this week, praying and fasting, and seeking the Spirit because I know I can´t do anything without His divine guidance.  More than anything, I try to mirror the same attitude Nephi had, our mission scripture and one of my personal favorite scriptures, 

"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." (2 Nephi 3:7).

Not too many exciting or interesting things happened this week.  We did run out of gas one night so it was back to the iron-heated shower.  I made sure we went to go get some gas the next day.  Today I have been cleaning like crazy (Now I REALLY miss my Mom) to prepare the house for my kid.  It really does feel super good to clean though, and have a home where the Spirit can be.  It will feel refreshing when it is all done.  I also saw a little girl playing Minecraft this week in the food appointment, there are so many new things, I feel like I have been gone for 20 years!! We have had to take a lot of combis and walk a lot as always, we have a ton of work, and yesterday we went around to some families so Lopez could say bye.  It even made me a little sad, and made me realize how much I already have grown to love the people here in this wark.

Well, training will be a new, challenging, and wonderful experience, just like every change will be in my mission and the rest of my life.  I have been studying hard out of Preach My Gospel this week to learn the basics so I can lead in teaching. Just like I told my Mom and Dad as I left on the airplane out of the Las Vegas Airport, "I am ready for this".  I am so thankful for all of the wonderful opportunities my parents, mission president, and more than anything, the Lord has given me.  I have been so blessing, and I am so excited for the mission ahead! We had interviews this week, and I really love my mission President.  He made me promise to write in my weekly letter home, that he personally loves you guys so much, and can tell we have an awesome family.  He said he is so happy to know that there are still many rightous and loving families in the Gospel.  I will admit, I will really miss him since he is going home when I finish training, IN JUST 3 MONTHS!! I am a little nervous what the new mission President will be like, and I hope he is as awesome as President Stutznegger.  I still miss and love you guys a lot, I hope some people are still reading these blogs.  Thanks so much for your letters, emails, packages, prayers, and support.  You guys are always in my prayers.  I am also already getting pretty excited for Mother´s Day, I guess this year, my whole family is excited for MOTHER´S Day!!  I´ll talk to you all next week, have a good one!!!

-Elder Tyler Clark

Don´t Worry, Be Happy

Hey everyone!! Sorry, I just got back from Teotihuacan, the Mayan Pyramids!! They were sooo awesome, I took like a billion photos (I almost have 200 photos from the mission... a lot...)  It was really cool though, and I am continuing to meet more friends and people who aren´t in my zone or someone who isn´t my companion! It was also just a fun adventure, and it is really cool living in a different country with a different culture, and different cool places to visit!  (Though I am limited as a missionary).  I am really loving the mission.

This week, one day at the gym, the song started playing ¨Don´t worry, be happy¨.  I don´t know why, but it made me really happy.  I also felt good because I just got done running and lifting weights, but that phrase has become a motto for the week and my mission! I really don´t have very much to worry about, and I sure am happy!! Conference made me happy, the work makes me happy, and having such loving and supporting family and friends back home makes me happy.  Thanks everyone.  

This week we had a lot of success!! We took our investigator, Ramiro, to the visitors center of the temple!! It was a really awesome experience, the Spirit was so strong there, I learned and felt a lot of love from My Savior, and he loved it so much he said he wants to go back.  His desire to be baptized and his testimony has grown so much since we have been visiting him.  He even brought his non member daughter to the visitors center!  We realized how great of a tool it was to bring investigators to the visitors center, and we have started inviting all of them!  We have a lot of cool plans ahead and I am sooo excited.  I LOVE this area, the people here, and we are being so blessed and guided in the work.  This week we will have TWO baptisms, one of Thursday for Henry, which is awesome, and another for Yael, the fourteen year old kid.  Both of them already have strong testimonies, and it is a miracle and humbling to me to see their faith in Christ, their willingness to follow His commandments, and their desire to commit their WHOLE lives to Jesus Christ, and enter the waters of baptism.  We also have many more baptisms planned in the future, but I am especially excited for these two this week, two people that we found when I were here, and are already baptizing them before the end of the cycle.  Yes, this is week 6 of the cycle so that means I am getting a new companion next Tuesday!! I must admit, I will miss Elder Lopez a lot.  We have had a lot of fun together, made lots of memories, and have had a lot of success too.  I am greatful for everything he taught me these last 6 weeks and I pray and hope that my next companion too, will be willing to work hard and have fun with me too just as Lopez and Johnson have.  But I must admit, WHERE DID THESE LAST 6 WEEKS GO!! Time has been going by sooo fast, it is crazy.  Somedays I wonder if I am just going to wake up in my own bed one morning.  Also this last Sunday for conference, we had EIGHT investigators come!! Wow, I was just so happy, I was smiling the whole time and so excited to see their faith and commitment.  Thanks to sister conception, the BEST 74 year old memeber missionary, we found a LOT of new investigators this week, and she single-handedly brought 3 investigators to general conference herself.  I am so greatful for her service and example in this ward, I wish all of the memebers would be as motivated as her to help us with the work, because with her help alone, we will have a TON of baptisms in this ward.  Man am I excited!

I also learned some pretty valuable and cool lessons this week.  One day in particular, I think it was Wednesday was kind of rough.  We walked a ton, up and down hills, it was really windy and hot, the dirt was blowing in our faces.  I felt uncomfortable, hot, and tired, but I kept going.  I was waiting for something good to happen or a ¨blessing¨ because we kept working, but nope.  All of the appointments we went to were either dissapointments and the investigators didn´t want anything else from us, or the people I was looking forward to seeing weren´t there.  I remembered going back to the house to grab some papers, I got down on my knees, and asked him why I had a hard day, why he made us waste time and money to go to visit people who weren´t there, and if he was answering my prayers that day.  Well, it wasn´t until night, when I was walking back to the house, when I learned he was actually teaching me a great lesson, and actually, a lesson I had ASKED for!  I couldn´t believe I forgot that that morning I listened to a conference talk by Elder Uchtdorf (one of my favorite habits as I get ready in the morning), about patience.  It was a really great talk, inspired me a lot, and then I got on my knees and asked Heavenly Father to teach me to have more patience.  Well, I definitely got my lesson I was asking for.  That night I appologized for getting down and discouraged, and doubting His guidance, and thanked Him for that great lesson of patience.  Since then, I have definitely had more patience, and I marvel and the kind of patience He must have to have for each one of us.  Wow, that´s a lot of patience.  I know I will have hard lessons in the future, hard investigators, hard days and weeks, and maybe even a hard area or companion.  But I have learned with His help and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can have more patience and hope I will be able to endure these trials with hope, love, and this patience.  Also, I learned a lot this General Conference, I loved it!! I must admit, it was a little harder in Spanish, and I missed hearing the actual voices of the prophets and apostles, and there are some talks I want to download and listen to again, but still, definitely the most inspiring and uplifting conference I have had in my whole life.  I would love to share everything I had learned, but 10 pages of notes is hard to summarize.  I will say that I had ALL of my questions answered, that I approached my Heavenly Father with in prayer, and looked for the answers in conference.  I had a few questions about the Spirit and I loved Elder Ronald A. Rasband´s talk about being First Responders.  I hope and pray for the courage and capacity to be a First Responder out here in my mission so I can always follow the Spirit and His promptings.  Also I learned a lot from Joy D. Jone´s talk about covenants and promises.  This wasn´t actually something she said, neither a question I had, but it was an unsolictied gift and knowledge from Heavenly Father through His Spirit, that the Spirit had taught me.  I learned something about the Sacrament.  When we take to Sacrament every week, we make a PROMISE with God, that we will keep the commandments and follow Jesus Christ.  We make that promise forever, but I like to think of it as we make the promise and renew that baptismal covenant for the week, and we will try with everything we got to be like Him and keep His commandments ¨because we said so¨.  So, through this promise every week, God promises us His Spirit and through His Spirit we can be cleaned of our sins, guided, comforted, and through our promises or covenants with God and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can progress, make our weaknesses become strengths, and build within us a sin-resisting spirit so we too one day can become like God.  The Sacrament and the Atonement of Jesus Christ has always been a topic hard to grasp for me, and to understand how can He love us so much or His grace and mercy be soo great that we can repent of our sins and recieve the SAME glory as our father in Heaven with our family.  But as I study the scriptures and especially read and study every word of my patriarchal blessing, that goal and hope becomes a reality to me, something reachable, and inspires and motivates ME to work harder and harder, to keep his commandments, and help me and my family and as many other people as I can recieve this Exaltation- The maximum state of happiness in the Celestial Kingdom (according to the Scripture Guide).  Something reachable and hopeable.

Well, that about wraps it up.  This week I reached a very large and great milestone in my life.  I reached 100 STREET TACOS in the mission!! Wow, I wonder if I can get to 1000 by the end.  I have been eating a lot of street tacos here though.  I have running AND lifting weights everyday in the gym and it makes me feel great.  Also, I recieved a great and marvelous revelation this week in a dream.  I realized that for my hour of exercise in the morning, I could go to the church and play basketball!! I hope my next companion likes basketball because I am going to buy one this week and go there instead of the gym somedays! I am so greatful for this divine inspiration.  Well, I am pumped for our baptisms this week.  Happy Birthday to Lindsey, Khloe, and Cole this week!! I hope you guys all had great birthdays.  To close, I would like to echo the words of Elder Uchtdorf, I really enjoyed his talk this conference.  I wouldn´t want to be living at any other time of the history of the world either.  I wouldn´t want to be with any other companion, in any other area or mission, or with any other mission president.  I wouldn´t trade my family or friends for ANYONE else in the world, not even a chance to meet Kawhi Leonard (Although that would be pretty sweet... maybe I would haha.  jk)  I wouldn´t ask for any other situation in my life because I too sometimes want to just drop to my knees and give thanks to my Heavenly Father for EVERYTHING I have in life.  I literally have so much.  We have been so blessed as members of the church, and I personally have been so so blessed in my life.  I love, miss, and pray for you all as always.  Til next week family and friends!!

-Elder Clark