FAM-BAM,
Never have I ever loved my bed more. WOW. If you have sleeping
problems, come join me in Lima Peru, and you will be cured for life.
The days here are the very best of my life, and every night I put my
head on my pillow, I am out like a light.
This week went by so fast, holy cow. Again, the days feel like weeks,
and the weeks feel like days. And I think the weeks are just gonna get
faster from here.
This week I got super sick, Thursday and Friday. Okay, let me explain
a very important thing to you all. Everyone here, all the Americans,
are super open about the status of their feces. (aka their poop) The
food here does some wonders to your body, and almost everyone has a
problem, even though it tastes so good. Anyways, “the nuncas”= never,
is code word for constipation, and “the siempres” = always, is code
word for diarehhea. This week I had a bad case of the siempres, ALL
THE TIME. I also threw up for about 24 hours on Thursday, spent more
time in the bathroom on Thursday than I have during the whole mission.
I couldn’t keep food down for almost 48 hours, it was rougher than
rough. But, now that I look back, I feel like I ran a marathon or
something. Like, proud of it for some odd reason, haha.
This week we went to Migraciones to get our visa. It was AWESOME to be
in the city and see all the cute Peruvian people. The Peruvian
drivers. I get a whole lotta grief from people at home about my
driving, but wow, you guys ain’t seen nothing yet. I feel like the
road has no rules, I have a heart attack like every second driving
down the highway. And also, these little vendors walk down the lines
of the lanes in the road and sell drinks!!! It honestly scares the
bejeebies right out of me.
When we went to the bathroom at Migraciones, we stopped and talked to
a woman and her daughter, and they were asking about our tags and
Jesucristo. They spoke in Spanish SO fast, no English whatsoever, and
I’m trying my best to understand/speak. They were so kind, and I just
wanted to give them el libro de Mormon, but I had nothing with me,
because we left our bags in the car. BUT, it gave me hope that there
are so many people out there, ready to hear the gospel, because those
two women were SO ready. I KNOW they were.
Seriously, all the Latinos/Latinas make me feel like a million bucks.
They cheer me up, and make me laugh more than anyone. I love them.
This week, a bunch of members in peru came on a tour through the MTC,
all these little children wearing little tags saying, “future
misionero”. They walked through the classroom we were working in, and
they all came up to me and shook my hand and said, “hola Hermana!” and
then kissed me on the cheek. That’s how everyone greets here, it is
the cutest thing in the world. That was one of the highlights of my
week for sure. I LOVE THE PERUVIANS, have I said that yet?
I also get to play the piano a lot here in the CCM, they ask me to
play for sacrament meetings, and devotionals, and last night, I
accompanied an Elder and an Hermana singing “Come thou Fount”. It was
such a special opportunity for me.
I love praying in Spanish, and this week as I prayed, the word I
prayed in Spanish began to come from my heart. I felt God’s love for
ALL of his children deep down in my heart.
This week we taught our investigator Lisbeth. She’s a teenager who’s
been coming to church with her aunt and uncle for about a year, and
wants to take the lessons. Well, a few nights ago, we had a lesson
with her, ALL in Spanish might I add (that’s how it is everytime), and
I just couldn’t say what I wanted to say in Spanish. I could tell that
Lisbeth was getting really bored, but I just didn’t know what to do
about it, I had NO idea how to say anything in Spanish! Anyways,
finally she literally fell asleep during our lesson, her face in her
hands. I had no idea what to do, so we ended by sharing a scripture
and left. When we left, I was so discouraged. Hermana Haws and I went
and sat down, and I just cried. I didn’t even want to talk about how I
felt, I just silent cried for a minute. This groundskeeper came up to
us, and so I just brushed my tears aside real quick, and put on a
happy face. He talked to us in rapid Spanish, and I didn’t catch much,
but he made me laugh, showed me a video of him playing piano with his
daughter, and before he left, he said in Spanish something to the
effect of, “your mission is good. What you are doing is good”, and at
the end he said, “remember, it is most important to listen” What a
sweet, wise man. I have learned that the language of the spirit
speaking to me is the most important thing to learn here, even more
important than Spanish. Saying what my Heavenly Father would have me
say to his children. Now whenever I see that man here at the CCM, I
say, “hola amigo”, because I really feel he is my friend.
I love my mission already, but I love my savior, Jesus Christ even
more. My love for this gospel has only blossomed since I have been
here. I felt very depressed right after being sick, Satan was just
beating me up, and telling me, “hermana clark, you’re gonna be a
crummy missionary.” Anyways, there’s a phrase that goes, “forget
yourself and go to work”, and when I thought of that before, my mind
said, “really…that’s exhausting”. BUT. As I was thinking more of the
way my savior selflessly served, my heart told me that that phrase was
exactly what I was to do. And I will tell you, never have I ever felt
happier.
I love the mish. It is the hardest thing I have ever done, for sure.
But as I forgotten myself in the service of others, my heart has just
burst with love. I KNOW this church is true.
I love you all, and you are in my Spanish prayers. ALWAYS.
Be of good cheer!
Love, Hermana Clark