This week I would like to announce, I am still undefeated. I always LOVE doing divisions, since I've been a district leader. Even if you have a really awesome companion, like Elder Torres is to me, just the fact that you are always within sight and sound of the same person 24/7, it always is nice to change things up for a day, and like last week, I feel like it helps me love and appreciate my companion more, and divisions always seem to bring miracles or to reanimate people. I know that I also learned a TON when I did divisions with Elder Matsen as my zone leader. So this week I had the great opportunity of doing divisions with just a 4 week old Elder, Elder Stone. It was awesome, it was like I was training for the day. It was also fun talking because he lives super close to my family in Utah and went to Riverton and has even talked to Elder Boyer since he's been home! After emailing Elder Boyer last week also, I have great news and he will be back to the mission in just a few weeks! I'm excited to see him again and glad he is doing better. On divisions with Elder Stone, we hit leg day super hard at the gym, I made him a super good breakfast taco breakfast, I tried to teach him Spanish and how to contact, and it was a lot of fun. He told me that he learned so much that day. And like always, we had a day full of success finding 4 new investigators and adding 2 more baptismal dates towards the end of the month! Things are also starting to roll here in my area, Villada, and we are up to 5 baptismal dates! We've got some good momentum now and if all works out, in a couple of weeks we should be able to start having baptisms almost weekly again. Our goal is 4 baptisms in the month of September which will definitely help us reach the mission goal of 100 baptisms each month and I've always learned that when we set our goals higher than we think, the Lord can pull the rest of the load. I just can't believe how fast these weeks are flying by right now. It is already September again which is just nuts. Now I have officially experienced at least one day of every month here in Mexico as a missionary! In just one short year from now I will be getting ready to pack my bags and head back home to see all of you guys!
The work is going great still too! This week we were able to put two baptism dates with some ladies that are super excited and understand super well. We are really excited for them (Karina and Silvia) and also still having lots of other success teaching and helping Guadalupe and Liseth progress to their baptisms in September. The miracle work just keeps going forth and now we are working extra hard to achieve to newer, raised, key indicator goals each week. Our zone continues to thrive a flourish as well. We have continued to do zone attacks and divisions ever week to get everyone excited for the work. No time to get bored or be lazy in this zone! Lots of work to get done. We didn't quite reach 56 new investigators like last week (we "only" got 51) which has honestly, truly just been such amazing miracles, and also since starting out with just 6 baptism dates as a zone when I got here four weeks ago, we now have almost quadrupled that number with 20 baptismal dates! I know the Lord certainly blesses us when we "put our shoulder to the wheel" and work diligently to seek His will for us.
Well I guess the weeks have just been going by so fast lately, it just seems like there isn't as much to tell as normal. I have started this week a new little hobby, or collection of watches. One day we were eating with the Jimenez family (the family where the dad is a professional boxer) and we were talking, laughing, and sharing stories. At the end, the dad decided to give me a super sweet chain black watch with little diamonds inside as a gift. I was super happy and grateful, that family is just awesome. I had to go to the teanges afterwards to have them put in a new battery and fit it to my wrist. I used that and a couple other things I got to bargain with the guy and got a super cool gold, Rolex watch with a genuine leather band and I got down the whole price to just about 7 bucks! That is definitely one of the reasons why I love Mexico. I have learned that I actually like watches a lot and I think I am going to make good use of my time here in my mission and collect some of these super cool watches that I can get for really cheap. I have also decided that the daughter of the Jimenez family that is now home from her mission is literally the Mexican clone of my awesome cousin Allison. Sometimes it is super weird how much she reminds me of her haha. As for food this week, it has been pretty usual and delicious. We got a pizza from Little Ceasars one day again (and for those that are wondering, any restaurant like Little Ceasars, Domino's, McDonald's, KFC have the exact same taste as the ones in the US. No Mexican twist except that everyone thinks they need to add a bunch of salsa and ketchup to their pizza which I don't do because I still don't understand it), and we also went out for some really good tacos one night that my taste buds REALLY enjoyed even though my digestive system didn't as much. Still didn't get sick though and they were way worth it. I always love me some Mexican food, especially the street tacos!! (I just really miss a good chick fil a sandwich with that sauce). We actually did have some pretty good deserts this week though. I had a super good flan from this guy who makes it from scratch, which is kind of like a creme brule but this flan was amazing. Also yesterday (Sunday) a lady made us a SUPER GOOD caramel cheesecake! Ugh I told her it was probably the best dessert I've had since I've left my house, it was seriously amazing. I must admit, it is kind of rare that I find a really good dessert like that here, mostly Mexico is good for tacos and other "real" food but that lady knew how to cook. She also has a super cute 2 year old who loves me! She is super curious and loves to get into everything which is frustrating for the mom, but she sure wasn't shy with me, laughing and playing and letting me hold her. It reminded me a lot of my little cousins who I miss so much and she would definitely be considered a "cute potato". I told the mom if she got tired of her I would be happy to take her with us. I don't think it would be too bad to keep a 2 year old baby in our house with us.... Right? Haha. I definitely love the little kids so much, got that from my mom.
To finish, I have some good news and kind of bad news. More good news though. One of those is that we got some gas again so we can now shower comfortably with some warm water without any other hazards! For those wondering as well, yes, here you don't pay a gas bill or something like that, you just have a tank of gas, and every time we shower we have to turn on the water heater and turn it off when we finish. When our gas tank runs out, well, you just have to suffer without hot water (unless you do the bucket trick) until you find someone to come and change your gas tank. It is really unfortunate, as it happened to us, when you run out of gas at the end of the month and don't have the money to pay for a new tank until the next month. There's just a fun fact for something that I've just gotten used to living with down here in Mexico. The other good news, I'm not sick any more!! I guess just a mild cough and a little congestion, but other than that, I am sick free and it feels so great!! As for the bad news... I think I got Elder Torres sick... Yeah we had to come back to the house one day for a couple hours for Elder Torres to rest because he was just feeling miserable and I felt bad for him... I hope he doesn't blame this on me haha. But he doesn't have strep throat or anything and seems to already be getting better with some over the counter medicine so that's good. I'm hoping to clear our whole house of sickness this week! So I'm just still really enjoying my time as a zone leader and in this awesome ward in Villada. I do still miss Atlicpac a lot and the members and my converts out there but I have definitely grown to deeply love the people wherever Heavenly Father sends me. As we had a ward family home evening this week and were playing a game and laughing I just felt comfortable. Just I miss my family a lot and always had a special relationship and fun experiences with them and my friends, but it is amazing how much I have truly grown to love, with a special and powerful Christlike love, not only the members of each ward, but the investigators, and just the people in the street wandering without the light of the Gospel in their lives. My love and desire to share the Gospel with this people has definitely grown tremendously as I have prayerfully and diligently sought it. I love these people and I love Mexico and my mission (especially the food) no matter how many trials or challenges it brings to help me grow. I love and miss my family and friends who always love and support me more than I can ever repay, and I love and support my leaders like my wonderful Mission President Mann and our beloved Prophet Thomas S. Monson. But more than anything I love my Heavenly Father and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who I thank for the opportunity to come to this Earth, learn and progress, and return to Their presence one day with my family and loved ones. I love my Savior and for His sacrifice that I will never be able to repay that made it possible for us to overcome the powers of sin and death and find hope and happiness even in the darkest times of temptation and trials in our life.
Thank you all, as always, for your emails, love and support and prayers. Have another fantastic week!
Your boy,
Elder T-Clark
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