MERRY CHRISTMAS! "Love is putting someone else's needs before yours."

December 22, 2014

Mission Christmas Party

This week flew by so fast. The main event was the Mission Christmas party. It started 9 in the morning with trainings, had lunch. WATCHED FROZEN!!!!, Had a talent show, had dinner, and had some more testimonies, and then we watch Ephraim’s Rescue... The party didn’t end until 9 at night and we didn’t leave the event until about 10, then we had to take the metro and then a bus to get back to our house so we didn’t get home until 1ish. Had to call the rest of our zone to make sure they were home and finally got to sleep at like 1:30... Only to wake up at 6:30.. Needless to say the next day was hard. But, the party was great! The entire mission got together! We had 200 missionaries all together! It was great to see all my companions and friends! The food was great and we got to watch frozen. We watched it in Portuguese but it was still great! haha

President Lundgren and Elder Clark

This week we just visited members. We have tried everything here and nothing is really working. But we are helping the members here get more excited about the gospel! This week every day is marked to make visits with the members, except for Christmas, we are really excited to help this branch. Our goal here is to strengthen the members and have a frequência of 100 people in church by the end of the transfer. We had 68 this Sunday. We have got a mountain to climb but we are up for the challenge!  This week was just rain. I think we arrived home dry only 2 nights this week.  Every night we have to hang our clothes up to dry and put our shoes under the fan. The rain is cold and wet! But, it is way better than the sun beating down on you.

Adventure

There is a line from Frozen that I loved... I know that I am 1 year late but it’s when the little snowman says ``Love is putting someone else's needs before yours´´. And of course as a missionary I wasn’t thinking about love between a couple, but I was thinking about the love of our Savior. He truly loves us. The act that he performed was the greatest act of putting EVERYONE ELSES NEEDS before himself. And as a representative of him, I have to follow his example and do just that as a missionary. It’s humbling for sure. But, I am so much happier when I am trying to fulfill those wise words of Olaf... I am so grateful for this time of the year we can celebrate the greatest birth that has ever happened and that will ever happen. I love my Lord Jesus Christ, and I’m grateful for His love. I am trying every day to love all those around me and follow His example. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! Remember our Savior!

Elder Clark

It’s the Simple Things

December 15 2014

Man, our area is tough. I love it here but it is tough man. We are trying different things every day to try and work better but nothing is really working. We are excited for this week because we have a lot of things planned that we are hoping and praying will help this branch. I love working with Branches (smaller congregations) and being able to be so involved. I am trying to apply the things I learned on the rez but as of now... nothing is really working. We have a lot of hope for this area but it’s tough. All we can do is keep going and work.

My mission has been really simple. I have has miracles happen for sure, but most of them have been little, personal but powerful miracles in my life that I will remember forever. It’s amazing how much love our Heavenly Father has for all of us and how he answers our prayers personally. One night, we found the other Elders on the street and we were dying of hunger! We didn’t have much money with us and the rest of our money was in our house, which was really far away... so what to do? We went to a member’s house! But they weren’t home... dang it. Our hunger was growing and we needed to find a way to eat fast. But without money that’s a little hard. We decided to pray.... in the middle of the street, for food. So, we prayed and then just kind of stood there waiting for a miracle to happen... like food would just appear.  A thought came to mind that we just needed to work and food will come. So the 4 of us went walking to a house of an investigator and one the way some man from a bar yelled ELDERS! Normally you just have to ignore the drunks but what he said next we the miracle. COME HERE AND I WILL BUY EACH OF YOU CHURRASCO (BBQ) WHAT?!? These man was border line drunk... and not even a member of the Church. He met with missionaries 20 years ago and remembered them when we walked passed. We couldn’t believe. We talked with him. Ate our grilled meat and went on our ways with food in our stomach. God is truly kind.

Rain

Our area is really big and we walk a lot. It feels a bit like Taguatinga all over again. It rained a lot this week so the heat wasn’t really a problem! We found a beautiful family this week that was very open to our message! I hope that we can help them progress! We also found a lot of less active members that we are determined to bring back to church. We had 60 people at church this weekend and our goal for the end of the transfer is 100. It’s a pretty big goal but, I have faith that we can do it! The Lord is great and I love him. I love this work and don’t want to be anywhere else!

Love you all!

Elder Clark

Gringos

Dec 8, 2014  

Proud to be from Planaltina!

This week was crazy hard. We arrived here and didn’t have any work to do. We didn’t have people to visit, or to teach... or really anything. We didn’t know any of the members or where they live because the city is really big. The congregation here is a branch (a small congregation). There isn’t too many members to start with. BUT I am so excited to be working in a branch again! Bringing back the days of Ft. Apache!! But, we knocked on doors and talked to everyone on the street because we just didn’t have anything going for us. We just had to wait until Sunday to meet everyone! Then hard part about our area too is that literally every single person has already talked to missionaries or at least that is their excuse. But this city is the oldest city in DF and the missionaries have been here since the dawn of time. So it’s been a bit hard but yesterday was church and things already are looking better! We meet all the members, already are working with them to do activities in the branch. I am so excited for this area!

Making Pizza at an Investigators Shop. 

My companion is great! He works and talks to everyone! His Portuguese gets better and better every day! Crazy how the church makes the world so small, he knows Elder States who served with me on the reservation in Arizona... crazy huh.

On the way to Caberceiras

This week we went on a trip! Really, it was the longest day of my life! haha We had to go to a city called Caberceiras to an interview. Our zone here is huge... and it was a trip of almost 6 hours... two buses... and a whole lot of waiting at the bus stations. BUT, the trip was so beautiful! In between the cities, there was just farm land and rolling green hills as far as the eyes can see. Then we arrived in the TINY town of Caberceiras... this town is paradise! You can walk from one end to the other in 30 minutes. It’s so little, but so great too! It’s so peaceful, clean and pretty much in the middle of nowhere so there is a lot of wildlife there, and there are a lot of people that work for the church that live there. Because there is a giant farm that the church owns close by so a LOT of people work there. Which is cool. I didn’t know we had the only farm of the church here in Brazil in our mission. I want to go visit it now... but it is far away. I fell in love with that little town in one day and hope I can return there! Sorry, I don’t have many pictures of it. I forgot my camera so I took pictures that aren’t very good with the phone, and Elder Goodsell took photos but his camera isn’t working with these computers. But the trip was truly an adventure and so much fun. Everyone was looking at us ``gringos`` or foreigners, wondering why these two white, blonde guys were in the middle of nowhere.... haha!

Life is so sweet as a missionary and I am so grateful for this time that I have, and it is passing by way to fast! I can’t believe how much I still have to learn and do and such little time I have left.

I love the gospel, I love my savior, and I love you all!

Elder Clark!

To Worlds Unknown

December 1, 2014

Baptism!

 This week was great! Ana Carolina was baptized! She is so strong and such an example to me! It was a really sweet baptismal service, with lots of support from the youth. We had a lot of help from the youth, helping her to activities and going to the lessons with us. It was a perfect way to finish the transfer. I had the privilege to confirm her a member on Sunday. She choose one of the young men who is preparing to go on a mission to baptize her, and I don’t know who got more excited, him or her. During the baptism service, she was all smiles, her mom was all tears and Moroni (the young man) was all nerves. It was great and he did a great job.

The pattern of weather this week was the same every single day. Super hot and humid in the morning and then the afternoon it would get real cloudy and cool off and in the evening it just rained and rained. We came home almost every night soaking wet. But, I would choose to work in the rain any day over the heat.

Santo Antonio with Elder Anderson

I went to Santo Antonio again! I spent the day with Elder Anderson! It was great. Elder Anderson is a great missionary, he only has 3 months on the mission but he isn't afraid to talk to anybody. He talks to anything! haha He is great and I learned so much from him. Its crazy because there everyone is catholic, and they attend this church that is across the street from their house.

So the exciting news.... I am no longer in the Zone Taguatinga! In case you didn’t know, I have about 8 months here in Brazil... and I have been in the same zone since I got here. I love Taguatinga, but I was ready to see more of Brazil! I was transferred today. I am now sending you an email from Planaltina, DF! I am still serving as a zone leader, and my new companion is Elder Goodsell from American Fork, Utah. He has 3 months on the mission and he is great. My other ``companion`` who is in another companionship but is the other zone leader, is called Elder Laurentino, and his companion is Elder Josephson from Lehi. Utah. We all live in an apartment together. I am so pumped because I love living with more missionaries! I am super excited to be here. There is a lot of work to do with less actives and I love to work with them! I am excited for this transfer, and not just because it will be Christmas soon!!!

I am sad to leave Recanto Das Emas. But, I am so grateful for my time there!! I love you all and I love the mission but most of all I love my Savior!

Elder Clark

Be a Man

Nov 24, 2014

Package from the Eging Family - Thank You!

This week was great. I learned a whole lot this week. Tuesday we had mission counsel with the mission president and all of the Zone Leaders in the mission. Our president gave us new rules (1 HOUR FOR EMAILS!) and lots of training. He told us a lot of info and we as zone leaders need to transfer all the info to our zones during zone meeting. Elder Magana and I were thinking all week how we will do that because we didn't want to just report what was said. We decided to ask some member of the zone to give training on subjects that we gave them! We planned to speak after the training to cover what the missionaries missed but the cool thing is that the training of the Elders were exactly the same as President! Sometimes they said the SAME phrase. The meeting was very spiritual and very uplifting. We finished the meeting off with ``Be a Man`` because that is basically what President kept saying in the meeting about the problems we are having in the mission. We have to leave our childhood behind and become men on the mission.

We are teaching a young woman that has 12 years. She is very special. Her mom is inactive but is very supportive. We marked a date for her baptism in December, but she said she wants to do it as soon as possible! So, this Thursday we will have a baptism service for her! She is great and treats our commitments like homework. She wants to learn and goes to church by the bus totally alone! I am very excited for her and her mom. Her mom opens up more and more to us as we visit.

This week for me was about change. As our zone meeting was about changing to become better on our missions, I have really been thinking about how I have changed on the mission. It’s not been easy and I still have so far to go, but I do believe that I am becoming better than I was. Well, at least I hope so. I really think that is the true purpose of our missions; is to shape our lives first, so we can help everyone around us after. I love the mission, no matter how hard and discouraging it can get, because I am becoming the man my Heavenly Father expects me to be.

Love you all and thank you for everything!

Elder Clark