Indescribable Joy

It was an AWESOME WEEK! My companion and I are getting along GREAT and have really bonded this week.  One night we were up late just talking and relating and we decided we are definitely going to be hanging out after the mission.  He has a lot of family in Las Vegas, and visits there often, and doesn`t live too far from Arizona (Ensenada, Mexico) so it will be fun to have new friends and relationships, both Mexicans and Americans in the future.  He has been bragging about how good he is at Ping-Pong though so it might be time again to break out the ping-pong set and humble some people.  Plus I got to get back to 100% to win the family ping pong tournament in October!

This week was full of success, busy days, and spiritual experiences. On Tuesday we had mission council and as Russell M. Nelson says, it became a "room of revelation".  I definitely felt the Spirit and knew that God inspired the ideas we came up with.  One idea was brought to my remembrance when I first started the mission and we read the Book of Mormon in 90 days as a mission.  We were talking more in the mission about how we can help the missionaries have their own conversion so I suggested that we read the Book of Mormon again as a mission.  Then in zone conference we call got a program to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days so it will be a great experience to start off and finish the mission the same way, strengthening my testimony of this sacred and special book.  On Wednesday night we had an appointment with an investigator, Flavio.  We had planned to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ focusing on baptism, and at the end of the lesson we gave him the baptismal invitation.  When we invited him to do so, he simply replied, "Yes.  It is necesary.  Do you guys work with dates so that I can get baptized a specific day?" His question shot directly to my heart and I think my companion and I were both surprised.  We then put a baptismal date with him for August 25th but by the way he is progressing so fast we may need to baptize him before! Leaving the appointment Elder Nevarez and I were just filled with the Spirit and joy, and realized that these are the "chosen" investigators that we try so hard to find.  It is so amazing how the Spirit can work with our investigators to change their hearts, help them understand the true doctrine of Christ, and when they open their hearts and minds, our message is simple and powerful, that even little children can understand it, and it is clear that what we teach is crucial and necesary to the Salvation of God`s children.  We also had another cool experience with some investigators last night (Sunday) with the Soria family.  We taught them the Plan of Salvation, and when they heard and understood it, they were filled with joy and realized that what we were teaching was really true.  They are progressing wonderfully and I want so much to baptize them before my time is up here in Mexico.  After teaching the Plan of Salvation, Jorge, the 16 year old son, said that hearing about the Plan of Salvation just makes him wish that all of his friends and family could hear this message too.  Tomorrow we are going to the visitor`s center with them in the temple and I am so excited!! They will be the coolest converts ever and Jorge is definitely a future missionary.  After the lesson last night, I was just feeling sooo happy and grateful to be a missionary.  I just felt like I wanted to keep working, and that I didn`t even need a P-Day (although yes, today was really nice to relax, wash clothes, and prepare everything for this week).  I am just so excited for the week ahead and the full agenda we have.  The satisfaction of teaching a lesson, feeling the Spirit, and having the family understand perfectly the message you wanted to get across and inspiring them to change their life and follow Christ is truly indescribable.  I can`t describe in words of how much love I feel for these people and the true, real joy that comes from serving the Lord and bringing others to Christ.  And these were just two of the appointments we had this week, not to mention the 5 investigators who came to church, 3 new baptismal dates we put this week, and finding new investigators through other creative ways like English classes.  Last night I just wanted to give everything to my Lord and Savior for all that he has given to me and for the opportunity to serve in this great work.  Truly the blessings and feelings are indesribable, although sometimes I wish you guys could just feel or know a portion of the joy I feel out here and I hope some of the words in my weekly emails help transmit that message.  I have 50 more pages to read in Jesus the Christ this week and it is amazing about how much more real Christ and His Atonement seem and mean to me in my life more and how much my testimony has grown in my mission.  I also finished the Book of Mormon again this week.  I know this church is true.  I know the Book of Mormon is true.  I know that Christ lives and loves us.  And I know that the Lord is preparing the "hearts of men" each and every day so that we can go find them and feel just a little part of the joy our Heavenly Father feels as he sees His children progressing and taking steps in their lives to come back to Him.  I love being a missionary, I love this work, I love Mexico and the people here and I love my Savior Jesus Christ!

Well this week we played some more foosball which was good, taught some English classes which attracted some new people to the church, and played some more soccer and basketball with some investigators! We also had zone conference which was really good, Elder Nevarez and I gave a fun training that everyone loved, but probably just because candy was the reward for people participating haha. My convert, Ricardo, also went to zone conference to share his testimony and inspire all of us and he was so happy to see me.  I am so grateful for all of the converts and success I have had in my mission.  But at Zone Conference as I watched the Elders who were going home share their last testimony, and as we sang the last hymn "the armies of Helaman" it really hit me that I am almost done.  Now, next conference, I will be the one up there sharing my last testimony, and I only have a handful of days to work hard, and only a few more P-Days to write you guys and take advantage of my time here in Mexcio exploring and having fun! I never thought these days would come and it seems like the more I enjoy my time and lose myself in the work, the faster and faster it goes... Sometimes I think I don`t even want to go home because I know I will never have another opportunity quite like it but I know a lot of other fun and wonderful experiences and adventures are awaiting me ahead back home as well.... Life is just a wonderful blessing and journey.  Also one night we were up on the roof because the moon and sky was super cool so I will attach some pics below.  I know I am slacking on pics a lot so sorry.  Thanks for everything and have a great week! Love you guys!

Elder Tyler Clark

Championship Foosball Companionship

This week was super awesome with Elder Nezarez!! He has been a really fun companion who has also pushed me harder and has taught me a lot in just a week.  We have been going out to run every morning (since I can´t get fat my last couple of months!) and it has been great.  We run about 3-4 km (about 2 miles) around a track at a park by our house.  The first day we timed it and got the whole lap in 15 minutes, but we decided that by the end of the cycle we need to be running it in 12 minutes.  We are also going to run a 5K one day since my family all showed me up last week.  I have also found out that we are a pretty aewsome foosball companionship.  We are visiting a less active family that has foosball and they always love playing with us but can never beat Nevarez and I haha.  We have also been playing a game with a dog at our house (Camila) where we try to kick a little ball back and forth without her grabbing it.  It is actually pretty fun haha, our record right now is 35, but we have a goal to get 100 by the end of the cycle.  So we have been working harder than ever, but having a lot of fun while we do it too.

This week we were greatly blessed in the Lord´s work.  We ended up finding a new family of 4 yesterday (The Soria Familu) who are family members of our upstairs neighbors.  The Mom (Paty) and the two kids (Jorge and Felipe) are just awesome and I love them so much.  They literally live right in front of the church which will be nice, and whenever we teach they always have the best questions and are super interested.  I made it my goal to baptize at least 7 more people before I go home and if I could just bring this family to Christ I would be more that grateful and happy for all of the tons of success I have had in my mission.  I also had the opportunity to do a baptismal interview this week which are always cool experiences, and our zone is doing great.  Elder Nevarez and I are reading 10 pages every day from Doctrine and Covenants for companionship study and made it a goal to finish it all this cycle, and this week  I will finish the Book of Mormon for the 5th time in my mission (probably the deepest study I have done up to this point). This week I will also finally complete the task of finishing all of Jesus the Christ and this cycle I am going to read all of the New Testament.  It is crazy how much I have truly fallen in love with reading, studying, and pondering the Holy Scriptures.  How grateful I am for them in my life, the evidence of how much our Heavenly Father loves us and truly a way to bring power and the spirit into our lives.  How so much of the time we take the scriptures and words of the prophets for granted, but I know that they are true, and feel deeply blessed to have them in my life.  I am working hard to achieve my reading and study goals since I am starting to kinda realize,  I don´t have as much time in the mission left as it seems like... Sometimes just when you want time to go by slower, it starts going by faster.    I am really just trying to take advantage of this special and sacred time I have as a missionary to study and understand the scripture and especially to bring others to repentance.  One thing that Elder Nevarez has really taught me this week is the power and authority we truly have as missionaries.  Although we all can help and have a part in the missionary work, no one else in the world, besides the Apostles, have the divine power, duty, and privlege of preaching the Gospel and bringing others unto Christ through baptism and repentance.  As I get older in the mission, sometimes I feel like I wish  I had this same knowledge and understanding of the importnace of our sacred calling and am trying my best to make the most of these two years or 3 months that I still have left, because they will never come back and I will never have an opportunity quite like it.  It is sometimes sad to think that in the moment, we aren´t always as grateful or don´t always make the most of our opporunities because we don´t truly understand or appeciate them until they are coming to an end.  So that is why I have always made the decision to "leave it all out on the floor" and make the most of every moment in my life.  How blessed we all are to live in this great day.  How grateful I am to be a missionary and especially to be a member of the true and living Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

Well this week should be great as well, my second to last zone conference which is kind of crazy to think about, and with our ward mission leader we are planning English Classes every Friday at 6:00 since we have our normal church building back and some other ward activites.  This last Saturday we had a ward missionary activity for the young men and woman where they had to "live a day in the mission".  They had competitions like ironing their clothes, cooking breakfast, doing exercise (everything a missionary does daily) and then at the end we went out with them and taught lessons to investigators.  I know it was a really cool experience for them and they all seemed really excited to serve a misison of their own one day.  Finally, this past week I ate tacos 6 times! (5 of the times in 3 days haha) which is all the more reason to keep running in the morning.  But seriously, nothing else is quite like the tacos al pastor here and I will especially be taking advantage of this blessing the most I can in my time left here.  Thanks for all of your emails, prayers, and support and love and miss you guys tons! Have a great week!

Elder Tyler Clark

New Changes Already!!!

Hello Family and Friends!

This week will probably be a shorter email because we just got back from changes and we got to get to work soon, but unfortunately Elder Mercado had changes and I had to say goodbye to him.  He was an amazing companion for me, taught me a lot and I will miss him, but now I will get to make new friends with Elder Nevarez who is from Ensenada Mexico! Maybe I saw him when I went down to visit a couple of summers ago haha.  But anyways, even though I will miss Elder Mercado, I am SO excited for the cylce with Elder Nevarez and we are going to baptize a ton.

So this week we worked hard and put a few more baptismal dates.  We found another new family who are super cool and finally our local church building opened back up again, so now it will be SO much easier for our investigators to come to church since now they can walk and don`t have to pay for transportation.  I am hoping to truly make this one of the best cycles of my mission.  And our zone had a lot of changes as well but we will have a TON of success here now and we have some really good District Leaders and Elders in a zone to help us here.  Finally, this week we had a zone attack this week and got over 40 references.  The sisters in our zone drew out the whole plan of salvation on the sidewalk of the stake center, and we invited people on the street to come in so we could explain the Plan of Salvation in 5 minutes.  Almost all of them, after hearing what our message truly is, opened their hearts and accepted a return appointment.  It was a really good idea and will help us out a lot this week.

We have also been having a lot of success inviting investigators and less active members to play soccer and basketball with us every Saturday morning to help them get to know the church a little more as well.  We always have a lot of fun and that is how we have specifically gained the trust and have started teaching a little bit to our landlords.  They are a super cool family that live above us and always invite us to eat and hang out with them.  We have also gotten to know some of their family members and and going to be teaching a whole new family this week thanks to them.  So everything is going great here, and I couldn`t be more excited.  I can`t believe how fast last cycle went by and it is even crazier to think that I only have 2 more cycles left.... Today I watched some of the first people I knew here in the mission, some of the people that got here around my time, finally go home. So I guess I better give it my all with Nevarez these last 3 months!!! Love and miss you guys tons and have a great week!

Elder Clark

Week 6

This week was pretty normal and fast... I can`t belive it is already week 6 of this cycle, either me or my companion could be having changes next week (although I hope not) and now I will only have 2 cycles left, 3 more months to go from tomorrow! I can`t believe how quick time is passing by, and when I think it can`t be going faster, it somehow goes faster.  It is truly interesting to me that the more you enjoy life or where you are, it seems that the faster it goes, almost unfair, but I guess that is the trick to life, just learn to enjoy it all, and always think positively with a grateful heart.  This week I am going to be more focused on being positive and stop myself everytime I am have a negative thought.  Sometimes I feel like I am so far away from being like Christ but I know that one day we will get there, although it won`t be in this life.

This week I did have a couple of cool experiences, on Thursday, I felt like we needed to walk by the church on the way to lunch although my companion wanted to go a diffrent way.  As we walked by the church a lady with an 11 month old baby approached us, with lots of fear in her eyes, and saying she was just abused by her husband, was ran out of the house with her baby and a suitcase, and was just looking for help... Apparently a lot of different places didn`t want to take her in to help her, so for some reason, they sent her to a Mormon church, I am not really sure what she would have done if we weren`t there.  So we called our bishop and relief society president to see if anyone could help us, our bishop was really working hard but was out of town for work and couldn`t do much... Unfortunately, we couldn`t find any members who would take them in but we bought them some food, and spent the next few hours looking for a place where she could go.  I felt so much compassion for her as she told me this was the most alone she had felt in her life, no family or friends who could take her in... I wanted to help her so bad, and wished that somehow I could let her and her baby into my house, and I remember thinking that I would just give anything so that they could be okay.  Unfortunately we couldn`t find much luck, so we paid for a taxi to take her to a humanitarian aid place as from then on we could only hope and pray for her.  We didn`t end up eating that day, and we walked away a little sad from the situation that we couldn`t do more, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and I hope she has been okay since.  It is definitely experiences like these in the mission that humble me and make me truly grateful for the wonderful, blessed family and friends that I have in my life, and my heart goes out to those that haven`t been blessed as much as me.  I have seen it my whole mission and it has truly changed my life.  Well this week we also had a baptism for an 8 year old boy, and the bishop asked us to organize it all so even though it wasn`t our baptism, it was a less active family that we have been working with and we were very happy that his older brother, who is a priest, was able to have to sacred opportunity of baptizing his little brother.  That family was so happy.  We have also been teaching this one lady who has a mom with alzheimers and we love going over there and making the old grandma laugh.  We always joke with her that she is still 20 years old, and she was very excited to get cake and some presents on her birthday this last week.  Even though it is a little sad, it is cute seeing old ladies like that who are truly just like little kids.  We also were able to take Alma (an investigator) and her husband Alejandro to the visitors center in the temple this week which was a really special experience for both of them and Alma is really excited to get baptized.  And to top of the week we had 7 investigators at church this Sunday which was really awesome and gives us a lot of hope for next cylce!! This cycle has been kind of hard for some of our investigators to progress because they have been remodeling our church building and everyone has to go to the stake center which is further and more expensive, but in one more week our normal building should be ready and we are hoping to start filing people into the baptismal font soon!! I love this work and it was nice to see a lot of our hard work pay off this week with some investgators at church.  I am definitely going to be sprinting through the finish line these last 3 months.

Well, that is about it for this week, we had a YSA and youth activity on Saturday where we played a little soccer and basketball and gave them a tour of the church building.  We had a lot of success and a lot of the people were really impressed with the church.  This week we are hoping to find lots of more investigators.  And today we went to the centro and found some cool souveneir stores and places to shop for when I go home.  Other than that, we are just ready to work hard another week.  Love and miss you all and keep on enjoying summer!!

Elder Tyler Clark

Electric Bus Guitarist

Hey Family and Friends!

I don`t have that much time this week, but probably the most impressive thing I have seen in Mexico in a while happened this week when we were taking a bus (micro).  Normally on the buses here, people will get on, try to sell some chocolate or candy, sometimes they will beg (and rob) if they are desperate, and some people will even share their talents like free style rapping (One time I was carrying a basketball on a micro and they rapped about basketball so they won a few coins from me :)).  I have even seen someone with a sack of glass pour it out, and roll around in it expecting someone to give him money for hurting himself... Definitely did not get my money lol.  But this week someone got on with his electric guitar, amp, and a microphone tied around his neck.  He sand and played some sweet songs, but what was most impressing to me, is that he stood up, playing the guitar the whole time, and didn`t ever stumble or miss a note for all of the potholes, speed bumps, and not to mention the rain and traffic too.  I mean I can`t even get to my seat without stumbling and falling over 10 people on the micros so this guy definitely earned my respects and a few pesos.  So yeah, that was probably one of the most interesting things I say this week.

Well the work goes on here in Tepalcates! Elder Mercado and I have put some goals to baptize the next few months and we have had really good, powerful, spirit-filled lessons with our investigators this week.  Something we have really been focusing on a lot lately is teaching the Sabbath Day and explaining the imtortance of keeping it.  It has always been a huge challenge here in my mission both for members and non-members.  I definitely love being a missionary though, teaching the Gospel and calling the people to repentance, and I am definitely working as hard as I can and enjoying every last second of these finals months.  This week one of my old investigators in Neza, is getting baptized as well!!!  I have had to be the one to plant a lot of the seeds in my past areas since for a lot of them, I have been there for little time, but it is awesome to see that the other Elders there are working hard and harvesting the seeds that I have planted to see the fruits of my labors.  I have been SOO blessed in my mission with so much success, so many awesome converts, and I give thanks to my Heavenly Father every day for it.  I have just been in a grateful mood in general these last few weeks because I truly have been so blessed in my life.

Well unfortunately Mexico lost today so everyone will probably be a little grumpy this week... Hope it doesn`t effect the work too much lol.  But Thanks for all of your emails, prayers, and support and I hope you all back home are having a great summer!!! Love you guys and have a great week!

Elder Clark