Goodbye and Hello

Goodbye Arizona

April 1, 2014

Sister Sweeney, Elder Clark, President Sweeney

Hello Brazil

April 2, 2014

Elder Clark in the Sao Paulo, Brazil MTC

I AM HERE, I HAVE ARRIVED SAFE AND SOUND. Still pretty unbelievable though....

Continued Progress

January 20, 2014

This has been yet another great week. It seemed WAY to short but then when I look back on it, the things that happened seemed like a year ago. Time works in mysterious ways on the mission!

This week we had a lot of visits. We taught a lot of lessons and found a lot of success... one thought we had last week with all those members showing up was that it could have been a one-time thing, so we worked really hard to have the success again! And we did! This week we had 174 people (at church)! A lot of the people that came last week weren’t actually there this week. A lot that were in church this week weren’t here last week. Which makes us really excited because once we get ALL of the people coming regularly; we will have more people than can fit in this little branch building!

Branch Temple Day

The most tender part of this week was Saturday. Elder Blankenship and I were able to join the branch in going to the temple. A couple weeks ago, I told you about a man and his wife that came back to church after 30 years ago. They (Brother and Sister Cheney) were able to attend with us and actually do the work for their deceased teenage son. I don’t think I have ever been happier than 1. To see these people I have grown to love be inside the temple for the first time and 2. Watch Brother Cheney do the work for his son and see the love that he has for his son and this gospel. I am so grateful I was able to witness that moment and be a part of it. The Lord has blessed me in SO many ways and I am so grateful that I am where I am. Brazil will come. But, boy do I love Whiteriver.

The Lord has special things in store for each and every one of us and I know that if we patiently wait and work for his blessings, he will, in his time, pour them upon us. I love this Gospel, I love the Lord and I cannot begin to express my thanks to him for the experience that I am having!

I love you all and miss you all lots!

 Elder Clark

The Lord Never Ceases To Amaze

From Samuel's Mom: All the missionaries from the Scottsdale Arizona Mission gathered together last Saturday.  They were scheduled to have a meeting with Elder Jeffery R Holland, an Apostle.  However, he was not able to attend. They held a mission conference instead. In the photo below Elder Clark is in the back on the right as you look at the picture.

The Entire Scottsdale Arizona Mission 

From Elder Clark:Elder Holland was not able to make it on Saturday.  But we still had our meeting and the different Mission Presidents and their wives spoke to us, as well as Elder Wright, an area seventy. Even though Elder Holland wasn’t able to make it, it was probably one of my favorite meetings of my mission so far. I came into it really wanting to know how to help certain people I was working with and I got so many answers on how I can help them! What a blessing! It was a lot of fun to be in the valley and be with EVERY missionary in our mission. I was not able to find Sister Kimberly Clark (Samuel’s cousin who is serving in a neighboring mission) though; I think she was going to be in the meeting after ours. I searched hard!

 Another great blessing this week was church. We were really worried about not being here on Saturday because it seems like if Saturdays are productive, good days, the next day, church attendance and the meetings are good. But the Lord kept working even though we were not here. We had 170 people in Church this week. The most in YEARS! What a great day, and it motivated all of us missionaries to continue to work as hard as we can because the people here are ready! 200 is our goal for the end of this transfer, and with that 200 get more priesthood holders and temple recommends! The work is exploding here and it is great to have 8 of us in this small reservation town! Such great things are happening here!

Ft Apache Crew - Eight Missionaries Strong

I forgot to mention this in my last letter, but I played the piano again... but this time it was for a funeral which was much more intimidating but it turned out to be a nice service, including the music.

I love this work and the church is true. I see evidence of it every single day.

Elder Clark

A New Year, Same Gospel

Kyra and the Ft. Apache Elders

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know I am pretty late but the year is still young! What a great week (and a couple days) it has been! I love being a missionary! So many great opportunities and adventures happen every single day! Good news is that all the Ft. Apache Elders are sticking together for another 6 weeks! We added the sisters (sisters are women who are serving missions) yesterday!  This area needs some sisters and we are all excited for the contribution they will be to this branch (a branch is a small congregation)! 

New Year's Eve Party

New Years was a lot of fun.  We went to a few parties and we able to make our "grand appearances" and I was able to be the grill master at one! Sometimes service IS really fun! We had a bonfire with a family and just had such a great time! New Year’s Day we went all the way to Snowflake for a activity for the morning! Lots of basketball playing! The best part was probably being able to watch some movies though! We watched "It’s a wonderful life" a super old (and approved) movie. Now all we elders talk about is the stud "George bailey".  If you haven’t seen that movie, it is a must see. So good! So old but, SO good.  

An interesting tradition the reservation has is that at midnight they all shoot their LOADED guns into the air... we were certain that we would be woken up by war sounds outside, maybe even bullets flying through our walls but none of us actually heard anything. So, I guess that was good...

Kyra and Elder Clark at Kyra's Baptism

Saturday was a really great day! I had the wonderful opportunity to baptized little Kyra. She is 10 years old but crazy smart and crazy funny. The service was great and it was great to see the support of all her family members there. Her and her sisters are incredibly strong girls and are such an example of true faith to me. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to be a part of their journeys. They will all grow up to be amazing women.  I know it.

 I love this gospel so much and I know is true with all my heart. A man that we have been working with, since I got here, bore his testimony to me and my companion yesterday. He has become active in the church again. He and his wife are preparing to go to the temple together! After over 30 years of being away! What a marvelous experience it was to hear his testimony and to feel the spirit inside of his home. He is truly a great man and a great leader in this community. I know soon he will make a great leader in this church too! The feeling at that moment was as great of a feeling as I had baptizing little Kyra on Saturday. Bringing someone back into the fold is just as great as bringing in new members. I know that to be true and I know it is the ability of EVERY member to do so. That is what home teaching is for. It’s a necessity.

This gospel is the greatest thing in my life. I am so grateful for it and all it does for me. I am grateful for my family, my happiness, my mission and my Savior. I know he lives and is my older brother who wants nothing more than to see me again and I will do all I can to not only make it back to him, but bring as many people as I possibly can with me. Love you all!

Elder Clark 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

December 30, 2013

What a great week, probably the best week of my mission so far. Sledding last Monday was so much fun and just started us out for a GREAT week. Christmas Eve we went to a home of a single sister in the Branch and she taught us how to make pizza! Boy, that was a mess but it was so delicious! Christmas was a lot of fun too. Skyping with ALL my wonderful family was of course the highlight, but all the dinners we had made me feel like I gained 100 pounds. Hey, I am not complaining! Christmas night we held basketball at the Church because that is literally all the teenagers favorite thing to do. We were not expecting too many to show up because of Christmas.  We ended up having around 50 kids running around playing ball and what not. It was CRAZY, crazy fun. The cool thing was that most of the teenagers there were not members. Such a great finding opportunity!

Thursday and Friday were so productive! Because everyone was home, we just went around visiting all the people we were working with and what great visits they were! I love the people of Ft. Apache! Saturday was such a great day too! In the morning my companion and I went to his old area to see an investigator and her daughter be baptized. What a sweet thing that was.  You could just see the love she had for this gospel and the love and support she had around her. It was a great service!

Mesa Temple

Saturday evening was fantastic! We took the youth to see the Mesa Temple lights! Yes, the Mesa Temple, the one that is about 3 1/2 hours away... We were able to get a bus... and a driver to take all 18 of us down to the valley! The bus ride was actually really fun with all the youth. We spent about an hour around the temple grounds, loaded up the bus, and headed home. It was so much fun. We got home pretty late. But, it was all worth it!

Sunday we were able to teach the combined youth 3rd hour class. It was probably one of the strongest times I can remember feeling the spirit. The lesson was about standing in holy places which was great because we were all at the temple the night before. The lesson turned into just recognizing the Holy Ghost and all that the Savior does for us. What a special thing to share with those feelings and our testimonies with the youth. I really hope they remember those feelings for a long time. I know that I will.

Our Saviors Birth

What a great week! I know it was all because the climax of the week was celebrating out dear Saviors birth. I am so grateful for everything he gives me and all the miracles he makes happen every day. I know he lives and loves each and every one of us. He will always make it possible for us to be happy.

http://www.lds.org/topics/christmas

Love you all!