Taking my Talents to Hollywood!

Family and Friends!

This week, I've decided I'm going to take my talents to Hollywood. We had that ward activity (the Mini MTC) that I mentioned last week and it couldn't have gone better! We had some awesome workshops where we trained the members about how the could help us out better in the missionary work. We made little missionary name tags for each member too, but I haven't even gotten to the best part of the activity. Last week Elder Palacios and I presented a little skit in zone conference that we planned last minute, but this time we had a whole week to plan, refine, and make the skit perfect. It's called "Ideal Mormons" and will probably be coming to Movie Theatres in the next little while. But it turned out great. And I must admit, from the 12 planchas of Christmas to Ideal Mormons and everything in between, I'm starting to think more and more about getting into the acting business. Haha it definitely makes the mission way more fun and fast continually having new, fun and exciting ideas and activities to plan for and look forward too. Constantly being busy I think is one of the keys to having a successful and enjoyable mission. But yes, the skit turned out great, we made all of the members laugh super hard and I think they would all say they felt inspired as well. I think that sometimes the best way to teach is with a little comedic relief, that way no one gets bored! I did record our whole skit but it's about 15 minutes long and it's all in Spanish... Maybe I can do an English production when I get back. But that was pretty much the highlight and exciting part of this week for me!

Unfortunately the Marín family (María and Fernanda) haven't been progressing as much as we'd like them to so we may have to give them a few weeks off. But the good news is that we have been finding a lot of new investigators with potential and getting a lot of help and referrals from members now! After our activity on Saturday one member came up to us and told us that she had a friend she wanted us to visit! We also found 2 little kids (Jonathan and Andrea), 8 and 11 years old, who were born in the US and then came to love with their grandma about a year ago. They are still learning Spanish so it is fun to speak English with them and they are super cute and fun. They aren't baptized so we are teaching them right now, but I love them so much, they remind me of my little cousins and sisters back home. And plus, sometimes it is just fun to teach little kids. It's amazing to see really how much they can understand and capture with the help of the Holy Ghost for how young they are! The light of Christ is real in all of us, no matter what age or nationality. And of course we still have a few other investigators and families we continue to teach so hopefully we start catching fire soon!

I've also continued falling in love more and more with the Scriptures the more I study them. I'm continuing studying by special topic each week (this week was prayer and really increased my faith in the power of prayer and how I can make my prayers more meaningful) and I keep on loving every verse I read as I advance in the Book of Mormon. I can truly say it is the time in my life where I've felt most in tune with the Spirit and the most close to my Savior Jesus Christ. Sure there is always room to progress and get better and I'm not perfect (yet) but I feel really close to my Heavenly Father and feel that I am being the faithful and diligent servant He wants me to be. And I am happy, so grateful and am just LOVING life in general and being a missionary. Even when I think about how my mission may be ending soon I think of all the wonderful, exciting, new opportunities that will come as I get home, start my studies at BYU, and one day start my own family with my own kids!! I truly feel so blessed and grateful to my Heavenly Father who is always so merciful to all of us, and for so many wonderful opportunities in this life. I can't think of a single part of my future that will be dark or boring, and looking back at the past, in my mission and growing up, there hasn't been a dull or dark moment either. And I think that is the trick in life, learning to find that happiness and the blessings in EVERY moment of life, and I testify they are ALWAYS there, even in the harder times, and then giving thanks to our Heavenly Father for all the blessings and try our best to help others find the path and reach that happiness with their families as well. And that is why I love being a missionary, because I have found that path, that light, love, and joy of the Gospel, and I want EVERYONE to have that same joy in their families and lives! And I definitely owe it all to my Savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father who have blessed me with a wonderful earthly family, parents, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends, who are always such great influences on me, have taught me to "walk in the light", and who are always there to love, support and of course, laugh and have fun with me. My mission has definitely given me a different perspective on life.

This week I learned a lot about the Holy Ghost studying in 2 Nephi 31, His divine roles, and how he can help us in our lives, including purifying and cleaning us of all sin and filthiness which is one of the reasons we should always strive for His companionship. I know He will always guide, protect, and comfort us in our lives as well. But I think my study highlight for this week was this morning. My companion wanted to have a pretty relax, resting, P-Day instead of playing basketball, hiking hills, going out to BWWs (like I always want to do!), and so I respected that and it was a great blessing for me. For almost 3 hours this morning I dedicated myself to study the allegory of the vineyard in Jacob 5 of the Book of Mormon. And I've never been able to understand and passage of scripture with such spiritual eyes and hears before. It just seemed like every single line and verse made so much sense to me, different scriptures came into my head enhancing the meaning of each verse and I felt so inspired. It definitely strengthened my testimony in the Book of Mormon because certainly no man alone, without the inspiration of God, could've written that great allegory. And it definitely helped me gain of greater perspective of the Lord's mercy and love, ever since the scattering of the House of Israel, the life of Christ, the great Apostasy, the Restoration, and even until the Millenum! That chapter covered just about all of it, and it reassured me of one of my favorite scriptures, that God's "work and glory" truly is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) I know and testify everything God does in our lives, whether it is trails and tribulations, or happiness and joy, is for our eternal progression. I know he is always watching over us and there to help us when we fall. I can't express how much I love the Book of Mormon and how grateful I am for my Savior. And know I am starting to understand why my Dad wanted to be a seminary teacher before he became an optometrist (and flippin genius)!

And that is about it for this week. I hope most of you are still able to read all and get to the bottom of my weekly emails (sorry they are so long!) but it was another great and fast week. I was able to do divisions with Elder Tristan this week (an Elder in my zone) which were really good- sometimes I think it's just healthy to have a break from whoever your companion is especially because you have to literally be with them 24/7! So that's why I always enjoy divisions, plus I just always love meeting new people and making new friends. Our bishop also made us a really good pozole this week, and was showing us some cooking tips. (our bishop is really good at cooking). And of course, we had our fair share of tacos this week which were good. As always I love and appreciate your emails and prayers, it is so good to know that people haven't forgotten about me after 16 months! (completed 16 months yesterday!) I heard it's been pretty snowy and cold so I hope everyone is safe and warm. I also hope the people that went had a fun time at Grandma Metcalf's funeral! Love you tons and have a great week! Hopefully you can check out my blog too and now some more pictures will be coming in, Adiós!

Elder Clark

P.S. Don't think I've stopped going to the gym either. I'm coming back T-Clark 2.0 bigger and better than ever! And finally here are some pictures too!

Baptism, Birthday, Earthquakes, and MORE!

Fam and Friends,

Wow, what a week! I'm not really quite sure where to start with this one since so much exciting things happened this week! I officially made it around the sun 20 times this week and my birthday was really good especially thanks to all of you guys for all the birthday wishes and thoughts! I also got a fun package from my mom with some light up balloons so we could have a party in our house! Last Monday we got to go to Buffalo Wild Wings (YAY!) with some of my mission buddies to celebrate my birthday so that was fun! On my birthday we went with an investigator and his wife to the visitors center in the temple! They also heard that it was my birthday so they prepared a super good breakfast for us which was nice. In the temple though we has an awesome experience and Ricardo (the investigator) definitely was feeling the spirit. We talked a lot about eternal families and temple work and it brought tears to Ricardo's eyes since his mom recently passed away. In the afternoon on my birthday we were able to find a couple new investigators, and then at night, the relief society president invited us over. Her son also had the same birthday as me so they bought pizza and cake for us, invited the bishop over, and we had a good time. The leadership in our ward is so loving and awesome and I'm grateful for them. Of course we also had to celebrate with some birthday tacos! But I was really grateful to feel so much love and support this week and it's weird to think that next year on my birthday I'll probably be a poor college student at BYU hanging out with my friends and family!  How fast has time been going by lately...

This week was also really awesome because I got to go back to my old area in Chimaulhuacan to baptize!! Fernando, Patricio, and Michel, all finally made it to get baptized and both Patricio and Michel (the little kids) wanted me to come back and baptize them. And I was pretty happy because you all know how much I love this kids. So that was a pretty cool experience and I was so so happy to see all the hard work it took with Elder Revolorio and Warnick finally paying off. Plus it's been a couple months since I've baptized so it was definitely satisfying and exciting getting back in the font for a swim! There was also a cool little miracle we had preparing for the baptism. I guess Saturday morning there was absolutely no water in the church, the tank was completely empty and none of the faucets had running water at all (Like that's never happened the day of a baptism before). Elder Warnick and Lopez said they were running and stressing out about how they could fix and nothing seemed to work. A couple hours before the baptism they said they tried to turn on the font one more time, and for some miracle, hot water came pouring out! They checked the tank again which was still empty and we all came to the conclusion that is was simply miracle water. So I guess the baptism must have been especially important to God because it was pretty cool being able to baptize these people in miracle water.  I love them so much and was so happy to finally see them be able to follow our Savior and see the happiness on their faces. I love this work so much.

This week we also made another breakout performance at zone conference! This time it wasn't with Warnick and it wasn't the "12 Planchas of Christmas", but Elder Palacios and I prepared a funny skit about member-missionary work and everyone really enjoyed it. I always like thinking of different, creative ways to teach about a certain topic so I was grateful for another good idea to help everyone laugh and enjoy it while they learned. I'm even more excited though because we've decided to take our theatre performance to the NEXT LEVEL! We are planning a ward activity this week and it is going to be a "Mini MTC". We are making little missionary plaques for all the members and when they come we are going to have different workshops where we will teach them how they can better share the Gospel with their friends and family and how we can both work together to do the work of the Lord. At the end we are going to also perform our skit in front of the members, only this time, with more props and decorations and even more well planned out! Who knows, if I keep going at this rate as my president tells me, I might end up on "Saturday Night Live!"

So it seems like everything is going great right now. We have been able to have lots of success finding new investigators this week and getting a lot more help from the members! One night, an appointment fell and we didn't know what to do. I felt like we needed to go with the relief society president and my companion supported me. When we got there she seemed very happy to see us! She said that she felt like she needed to share the Gospel with her friend today but she didn't know how!! We helped her know how she could best share the gospel with her friend, have a little practice to give her confidence, and she was so grateful that we came by to help her. That is one of the reasons why we've prepared this activity in our ward because even when the members can feel the Spirit and the desire to share the Gospel sometimes they don't know exactly how to start the conversation so we are hoping our activity can help them with with that. Another funny experience we had was when a member was showing us some magic tricks and I told him that I was going to show him one too. I told him to pick a street name between the Lopez and the Sor Juana (the limits of our areas) and a number between 0 and 250 (also the limits of our area). He told us Pajarera 120 and I told him that there we were going to find people that were going to get baptized. It started out kind of just as a joke and he told us that if they actually get baptized he would give us free dinner ever Monday and Friday night. Well, we decided we were going to contact that house anyways and to our surprise, we found Carmen and Fatima, who have already talked to missionaries before but don't know why they stopped going to visit them but that they would also love to start coming back to church and listening to the missionaries again! So that was pretty exciting and you can imagine how excited we were too. Also on Sunday we had various members show up with investigators one who came up to us and said, "Elders, this is my niece, she would like to listen to the missionaries, when can you visit her?" Which is pretty much the golden question for a missionary lol. So we seem to be doing good as far as the missionary work is going and I couldn't ask for any more blessings right now.

The last crazy thing that happened, as mentioned in my email subject, was.... ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE! My guess is that all of Mexico was so excited I turned 20 the earth was just trying to celebrate too. This one wasn't as strong for us, and didn't do much damage around us, but we definitely felt it and I was just wondering how many more earthquakes are going to happen while I'm in the mission. Also this week I had a pretty funny dream, where I was Pokemon Go hunting with my family and the Kellis family. We stopped the car at a certain spot and got out to look for a rare pokemon when all the sudden... We saw Tim Duncan!! I was freaking out (although in my dream he seemed much shorter that 7 foot) and we all got pictures with him. It was kinda funny, and I woke up thinking that was the weirdest dream ever. Or who knows, maybe it is a sign for when I get home! So this week, as you can see was pretty crazy, from my 20th birthday, baptizing in miracle water, another stage performance at zone conference, meeting Tim Duncan (kind of) and surviving more earthquakes. How can the mission get any more exciting than this? (Besides volcanic rock surfing at least). I'm so grateful for all of the experiences my mission has given me though, friendships, experiences, and miracles I will remember forever. I better take advantage of my time now as a missionary before it's up! Thanks again for all the birthday wishes and I definitely love and appreciate you guys back home even more than you can think! Love you tons and have a GREAT week!!!

Elder T-Clark

Nerf Wars in Neza

This week was pretty good! This week Elder Palacios and I have found a new way to release our stress at night- Nerf Wars. Haha some nights when we would get home we would turn off the lights and have flashlights and have some pretty intense nerf wars. Of course we are always focused on the Lord's work but sometimes you just need a little time to relax and have some fun with your companion. I've also seen that it's little fun things like that that strengthen our companionship and unity too!

Well it sure seems like this week went by like lightning. I've learned that time in life always goes by faster when we are enjoying it, being happy and working hard. And that's just what I did this week. I especially enjoyed being a missionary this week, specifically because I had to opportunity to testify of the Restored Gospel to many families and new investigators this week. I love the Restoration and am so grateful for it. I was inspired by a story I heard this week of a vision that Brigham Young had. He said one day he had a dream where he saw Joseph Smith running back and forth, without ever stopping. Brigham Young asked Joseph Smith why he was running everywhere and Joseph replied that there was even MORE work to be done in the Spirit World. When I read this story, something really hit me. Just shortly before finding the story, I had the blessing of teaching two awesome families (Rocha Family and Colin Family) the Restoration for the first time. The Spirit was so strong in each one of the lessons and we were able to teach clearly and give our testimonies and it was amazing how much it touched their hearts and how well they understood. Even though they are members of different churches right now, they asked us at the end, "So if what you're sharing is true, we need to get baptized again in your church!" I was excited that they understood our message and we left them with the homework of reading the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. I left those lessons feeling so happy, filled with the Spirit, and truly felt that my Heavenly Father was proud of me. The next morning I woke up full of happiness and gratitude. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and the pioneers, for the Restored Gospel in my family, and the Book of Mormon. I remember just looking at everything and everyone and feeling so grateful for the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father and full of love for His children. It rained that day too and I'm not sure why but rain always seems to make me happy too. But with all of this happiness and love with me I felt like Joseph Smith, just wanted to run from place to place for all the work that has to be done! I was thinking about all of the people we are teaching and how much family history work they can do once they are baptized and how many people are waiting for their family to do their work. Basically my point is I caught a small glimpse about how much work there really is to do, and it made me really reflect on how important our calling is as missionaries. I think it's really been the last few months, now that I'm really used to missionary life, loving Spanish and this people, and really just enjoying my time as a missionary is when I've noticed just how important my job is right now. And I wish I could've understood it this deep sooner on in my mission. Not to say I have any huge regrets about earlier in my mission, or that I didn't take being a missionary seriously, but I think it has really been these last few months where I have really spiritually matured and have just a small glimpse about how much work there is to be done and how little time there is to do it. And I am just so grateful in all of my weaknesses and imperfections that my Heavenly Father has been merciful enough to let me be an instrument and part of this great work. I have a burning, growing, and sure testimony of missionary work, the Restored Gospel, the Book of Mormon, and I testify that each one of us has a unique role to play in Heavenly Father's work for the Salvation of His children. As members of the church, WE have SO MUCH work to do, and I want to give it my all, just as Joseph Smith, running and praying and keep trying when I fall until I make it home and help as many others as I can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father and our Eternal Family.

This week I also started some really good study habits. For personal study each morning I spend 20 minutes studying a weekly specific topic or attribute of Christ (this week was patience) and write what I have found in my study journal. Then I spend 20-30 minutes advancing in the Book of Mormon with the Seminary guide, and then I read and mark a conference talk or two from last general conference. Every week I am going to focus on a different topic or attribute of Christ to develop, and I've already learned so much in just one week. I've always studied hard in my mission, but sometimes I think we can get even better with the way we study, and something that's really helped me is keeping a study journal. Plus I'm working harder than ever to take my Spanish to even another level and of course, study with my companion. Sometimes I feel like I can study for hours without every getting bored, I have just fallen on love so much with the scriptures, the words of our modern prophets and apostles, and the feeling of the Spirit guiding me with personal inspiration as I study. I always feel so spiritually fortified after I get done studying. And since I had made the goal with Elder Warnick since the beginning of the year to read the Book of Mormon everyday of 2018, it has been a huge blessing in my life. I invite all of you guys too to develop strong, regular study habits of the Book of Mormon specifically. Maybe it's just a combination of the Spirit and so many blessings in my life, but I'm not even sure if God can bless me more than He is now, and I'm so so grateful for such loving, strong, and so many examples in my family and friends that I have in my life. What a time to be alive!!!

Also, if I live through this week I will have successfully lived 20 years, which to me is pretty impressive considering all the crazy stuff I've done in life, life cliff diving, dirt boarding, and coming to a new country in Mexico with a new language, and new people, especially while Trump is President haha, I think that might be one of the craziest things I´ve done in my life. But I´ve survived and done it all, and I'm also very grateful for these last twenty years of my life and for all the great memories and experiences that have came from it. This week should be a pretty awesome week starting out with BWWs with all my mission buddies (today!), Visitors Center in the temple on my birthday with some awesome investigators, zone conference, and if all goes at it is planned, on Saturday I could be going back for Fernando, Patricio, and Michels baptism in my old area where two of them want me to baptize them! What a way to celebrate! Elder Palacios and I also are ready to get some tacos Thursday night of course. But ultimately, I can't think of a better way to celebrate my 20th birthday than preaching the Gospel! Thanks to all of you back home for all of your birthday wishes, for all of your prayer and support, and have a great weeeek!!!

Elder Clark

P.S. Also, minor correction, last week the cool investigators we visited are named Maria and Fernanda, not Alejandra.  Also I should be getting my camera this week to take some pictures!!!

New Adjustments!

Family and Friends!

Well, it was a pretty good week getting used to everything! Nothing too crazy has happened yet, there are no cactus gardens here, no volcanic rock surfing yet, and it definitely is a change, but that's okay. As I was getting ready to leave my old area, I decided that I was not going to complain. I decided no matter how hard the area was going to be, or the zone, no matter how hard of a companion I got, or how much work and fun I was leaving behind, some unfinished, I was not going to complain and was going to have a good attitude. Because I have been so blessed-not only in my mission, but in all of my life. Because I LOVE being a missionary and now that I'm getting more time in the mission I'm not looking forward to it ending. And because "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). On Sunday it was fast and testimony meeting so I took a little time to present myself to the new ward and to share my testimony and I talked about having faith and patience through trials that the Lord will fulfill his promises. I talked about how it was a little bit harder for me at the beginning of the mission, how I thought I would be here forever, and it was going to be 2 years full of trials. I guess you could say that I lost my faith a little bit, but now I'm here, I feel in love with the people and Mexico (especially those tacos) and love every little thing about being a missionary. It is interesting how we get used to some things that might be hard at first, and how much we can learn to love doing what is right in life if we hold onto the hope and faith, and have patience and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Good thing I still have a little while more to work because I have decided I am going to give it my all these last 8 months no matter where I'm at, who I'm with, or whatever the circumstances may be. Because I promised my Heavenly Father I would and I love this great work.

So yes, just like pretty much every area I've gotten to, there was not much work starting out, but we've already started seeing a lot more fruits and success in our area in just 1 week! I remember getting here, getting on my knees, and praying to find and recognize the people and families that I am supposed to meet and bless here, the lives who I have been foreordained to serve. On Saturday night, we got to a very humble house of a mom (Maria) and her daughter (Alejandra). It was really interesting because I never had seem them before but I already felt a connection with them, and that I had been called specifically to serve, love, and help them. Elder Palacios (my new companion) had been talking about dropping them because they weren't really progressing, but after I met them, I thought, there's no way we can drop them now, and asked my companion if we could give them one more chance to prove themselves and go to church. We talked a lot about the importance of the Sacrament with them, the Book of Mormon and it was one of the strongest moments I've ever felt the spirit and a Heavenly love for them in a lesson. It was like my soul was pleading for them to come unto Christ, because I knew how much it would bless their lives. At the end, the mom told me that she knew that God sent us into her life to help her change, and that she was so grateful for us. Alejandra (11 years old) was so excited to go to church. What really made me happy though was when they got to church on Sunday, and I was so happy for them. We have another appointment with them this week so hopefully they can get baptized soon!

Meanwhile back in our old area, Warnick tells me that our investigators keep shading us, or that they tell us they will go to church when they really don't. That was always super frustrating for us and why we could never really get a set baptism, but I'm really hoping Fernando and Patricio can go to church and get baptized soon. Also another convert update for the week- Ramiro is doing great, is now in the Elders quorum Presidency and should be going to the temple to get sealed with his wife in a couple months!!! I'm so excited and can't believe it has already almost been a year since I baptized him! Damian and his family are also doing good in Villada and I saw them the other week in Stake Conference! Always is good to hear that your converts are doing good though, and I love them so much.

Well, as always, thank you so much for the support, love, and prayers you offer for me. I don't know what I would do without such supportive family and friends. Apart from all the investigators we are finding I'm definitely getting to find some of the other important things in our area, like where the best tacos are at, and of course, the gym! Can't ever stop that gym grind out here. Anyways, I love hearing from you guys whenever you can shoot me an email, and you're always in my prayers, have a great week!!

Elder Clark