QUILLABAMBA

Hola Hermana Clark, comin' atcha from Quillabamba Peru. WHAAAAT: Crazy. 

On Tuesday morning, I caught a plane to Cusco from Lima. I'll sure love Lima for the rest of my life, because there I found some pretty awesome lifelong pals that I will NEVER forget. 

We arrived in the morning and president Harbertson and Hermana Harbertson picked us up. We traveled with them to Cristo Blanco to take pics, and HOLY WOW Cusco is BONITA. We went to the Plaza de Armas, a most beutiful square filled with lots of cool shops, and all I could think was, "Wow, I can't wait to explore here with my Dad 16 months, and be able to translate for him." Woah. SO RAD. 

We found out our comps on Wednesday. and we walked into the church, and President had all the new missionaries sit on the front row, and the trainers were behind us (the missionaries who will teach us to be the bomb out here in the field) and then one by one we stood up and found out our assignment. "Hermana Clark will be serving in Quillabamba" I can hear it now. My companion, Hermana Celan then rushed up and gave me hug. I loved her from the very start, she is so so sweet! And she speaks 0 English. No really, the only phrase she knows is Hello, my name is Hermana Celan. 

So we arrived to Quillabamba on thursday. The drive here was awful, Mom would have gotten sick 27 times, the road was so windy, the worst. But, we made it, and I didn't throw up. YES. We live on the 5th floor in a one room apartment, a bunk bed with a wood rod to hang our dresses, and a bathroom. The shower has no warm water, so I'm pro at the 2 minute shower now. But, its really hot here too, so that helps. 

We have a pension family, we go to their house for every meal, but this week our pension was in cusco, so we cooked for ourselves using whatever we could find in her house for a few days. One morming, I ate quinoa and a tomato for breakfast. I liked neither of those  before the mish. But, you know what? I'll eat anything. Now our pension is back, and she is the BEST. One of my fave things she makes is fried plantain, i'm obsessed with it, it's just so good!

We visited a lot of people this week, and a lot of people have nothing. So many dirt floors, so many nasty stray dogs, yet so many hearts that are open. We visit a lot of less-active members, because I'd say like 75% of the branch doesn't attend church, maybe 80%. President Sanchez is the Branch President, and I can understand about 1 of every 1000 words that he says. Which reminds me, I am the only person in this town who can speak English. Well, me and one other Elder, but he has 3 weeks left, and so he's basically Latino. 

I have cried every day since I arrived in Quillabamba. Every day without fail. The mission is hard. Every night when I go to bed, I am so happy that I can't stop smiling, and every morning, I just cry my eyes out, because it's just so hard sometimes, and my heart aches, and my spanish is MUY MAL. The mish is a rollercoaster that makes you a little nauseous, but get in line again and again to ride it, because it's just so darned fun. If that makes sense. 

One evening we were walking down the middle of a vacant road, the air was just a little smokey smelling, and the sun was just starting to go down. A mototaxi had just passed, and we had just walked out of a dirt house of sweet N, a woman who wants to be baptized. The mountains surrounding Quillabamba look fake. No really, is a big backdrop? They are so beautiful. And I kicked a rock and watched it down the road, with the biggest smile on my face, and said to my comp, "Mi vida es muy chevere", or "my life is really cool". Really, it is. I have so much to be grateful for. Like for example, The kids in my pension family taught me all the cuss words in spanish. They''re looking out for the people of Peru, and preventing future humiliating experiences for me. Thank you pension family. Or those mountains every day, WOWAZOWA: Or the fact that I have the best shoes, and my feet never hurt, thanks to my Momma (and shoutout to Sole-Solutions, hehe). Or how my companion says to me every day, "Hermana Clark, jeew ahhr dee buhm" (I taught her how to say "You are the bomb", and that's the only other phrase she knows.) It's the best, haha :) Or how I have the opportunity to play piano, because I am in actuality the ONLY piano player in Quillabamba. Pretty cool, eh? And how I have met so many cute people already, and this Sunday as I accompanied the congregation on the piano, while we were singing, "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy" in spanish, little 2 year old E came up and kissed my hand as I played, it made my heart melt. 

I have so much to be grateful for, even when I feel pretty crummy. 

I am grateful for my family every day, they are mi fuerza. 

I LOVE PERU, and I love you all. 

La iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimas Dias es verdadera. Yo se que con todo mi corazon. 

Lotsa love all the way from Quillabamba!

President and Hermana Halvertson

Me and Hermana Celan pic of my first sunday at the capilla. 

Quillabamba from our pensions house. 

Andrea a cute 12 year old girl who I helped with her math Spanish word problems. This was not an easy task! 

My Weird Breakfast + mystery meat

Views  for  Days! 

The Mountains around us, woah!

 Estefano who gives me kisses all the time. 

CUSCO HERE I COME :)

Hellohellohello!
This week I depart to Cuscotopia, my ultimate-summer-getaway. ¡¡WAHOO!!
Is that crazy or what?! My time in the CCM is practically over, and we
catch a plane to Cusco Tuesday morning, super early. (so PS I
don’t think I’ll get to write next week, so it’ll be two weeks
without word.)
At the CCM, we’ve been talking about the day we leave for so long, and
it is almost here! I thought the time was so slow the first weeks, I
remember that feeling, but now it blows my mind that it’s been a week
since I last wrote. (pretty sure I said that last week in my letter,
BUT IT IS CRAZY)
Cusco is calling my name so loud, I can hear it! I cannot wait. Last
night, we had an MTC devotional with the area 70 Elder Caldarron, who
used to be the mission president in Cusco! (I’m pretty sure he was the
pres. when Kyle and Riley were there, which is crazy too) That made me
even more pumped.
This week my bowel movements have been unreal. I don’t know what it is
about Peru, but wow, I’ve spent more time in the bathroom here in Peru
than I think I ever have in my life. And that might come by surprise
to my mom, because she always accused us kids of hiding out in the
bathroom after dinner trying to avoid doing the dishes, ha 
I have a new teaching companion for the week, so I’ve had 3 here at
the CCM now. (Hermana Haws is still my actually companion, but
teaching lessons wise we switch.) Hermana Holmes is my soul sister,
and I knew it when she said her fave song was that song, “You
Make my Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates. WHAT. That’s MY favorite
song. Anyways, I am positive we will be pals-for life.
One of the hermanas has a shirt that says “swag” on it, and one of the
older groundskeeper men was like, “Que significa ‘swag’”, and we were
all trying to explain it to him in our broken Spanish. One of the
latino Elders had told us how to say it in Spanish, I don’t know how
to spell it, but it sounds like “bow-teen”, and so we said that to
him, and he said, “Um, not a word en español”, so then thinking I’m
really helping him out I say, “Esta es mas o menos una nueva palabra
con los jovenes” or this is kind of a new word with the young people.
Haha, THEN, I realized: I just dug myself a hole and jumped in,
because people never want to be called old. We laughed it off, and now
whenever he sees me, he jokes to me about it.
We’ve made a choir here, and are doing a musical number for a
world-wide broadcast to all the seminary teachers in the world. They
asked the Peru MTC missionaries for a random reason that I don’t know,
but I am am SO grateful for this opportunity. We feel darned special
here to do it. The song we are singing is “Señor, te necesito”, and I
love that song. (I Need Thee Every Hour) We sing this song all the
time, and every time we sing, I feel my love for my Savior more and
more, and how I truly DO need him in every aspect of my life.
Everything in my life points back to the Savior. I love Him so much.
Which reminds me, I feel really grateful for the opportunity to wear
my tag every day. On it at the top it says, “Hermana Clark”, and then
it says right under that, “La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de
Los Ultímos Dias”. And that’s it. My name and the name of the church.
I’ve come to realize why I’m called Hermana Clark out here. On my
mission, I’m not representing Addy. But, I do represent the Clark
family, and gosh, I never want to do that name wrong. I love my mom
and dad way too much. I feel a great priveledge to represent them here
in Peru, because as far as I know, I’m the only Clark here in this
beautiful country, and they aren’t here, so I´m the sole
representative. (I really try to rep the Clark house in the best way)
And then right below my name is the name of Christ. I am a
representative of Him, and wow, what an honor. This work is His, and
all the good that I do here is His. I feel that I am His hands,
because even though he can’t show up to a Peruvian door with a message
of hope, or perform manual labor to help a person in need, I can. My
life is just so good, and I can’t help but feel blessed all the time.
Elder Holland said, “When you feel discouraged, remember that you are
standing shoulder to shoulder with the most perfect missionary that
ever lived”. That fills my heart with love and I am SO grateful.
Like Ammon says in the Book of Mormon, “Yea, I know that I am nothing:
As to my strength I am weak; therefore, I will not boast of myself,
but I will boast of my God, for in his strength, I can do all things!”
(Alma 26) I KNOW that all the joy I feel now is not because of me and
my strength, but because of the strength I find in Him, the creator of
all things good.
I’m so so excited to go to Cusco, and I KNOW I will have some stories
for next week Tuesday is “the start of something new”, even
better than when Gabriela and Troy sang karaoke together. And I mean,
that’s a bold statement.
Still praying for you all! Oh and if you are feeling extra sweet this
week, please send me pics! You don’t even have to send me a letter,
just quickly attach a pic from your iphone to “mail”, in the “To:”
box, type addysen.clark@myldsmail.net, and then click SEND!
Easy-peasy. That would make me happier than a bird with a worm.
LOVE YOU ALL A MILLION!

 Hermana Hawes! 

 Hermana Holmes (song soul mate!) 

 We're here to serve YOU! 

 In front of "Jurassic Park" 

High Five for Five Weeks! 

Pics from Week 4

 Hermanas! 

 Fine dining in the CCM (breakfast that is) 

Package made with love from my sweet hermanas

A SECOND TEMPLE IN LIMA PERU

¡Mi querido familia!
Hello hello, another fabulous week in Paradise.
This week went by so fast, it feels like just yesterday that I was
hurriedly writing you all letters, yet here I am once again. WAHOO 
Also, today is our 1 month mark, and how did that happen?! Crazy crazy.
Well, the new missionaries all arrived safely, and they are all doing
good. Hermana Haws and I are really loving being the sister leaders,
because through it, we get to have little chats with all the hermanas.
(they call them interviews here in the CCM, but I say that is too
formal.) All of the hermanas are so wonderful. One night this week,
one of the Hermanas was washing her clothes, and her comp took them
out, but too early. So her wet clothes sat for a little bit, and then
when she got back to the room, she was already having a little bit of
a rough day, and so that was just the dealbreaker. Anyways Hermana
Haws and I tried to discretely go run them up to the drier to help
out, but literally NONE of the driers would work. We tried everything,
and finally Hermana Haws was like, “Do you have a hair dryer?” and so
we took the clothes down to the bathroom, and hairdryed our other
sweet Hermanas clothes.
It was so funny in the moment, and I literally thought that my hair
dryer was going to blow up in my hands. Everyone who was having the
siempres that week were probably really grateful for us, because that
hairdryer burnt out any other smell existing. It smelled like fire for
a day or so.
I LOVE all the people here. I’ve gotten really close with the
missionaries in my district, and I know without a doubt that we will
be life-long friends. They are some of the best people I have ever
known, and my heart is full of love for them. Today all the other
Hermanas received packages from home, and mine has quite yet come. I
thought it would be here this week, but I can always hope for next
week, right?  Anyways, I found a package on my bed, with my name and
the address of the CCM & everything, and inside it, I found little
notes from all the hermanas in my room, and little candies. They had
compiled things from their packages to make a package for me. When I
opened it, my heart just was so full, and I cried happy tears as they
all came and hugged me. The love in the CCM is unreal, I am SO
blessed. Love them to pieces.
The highlight of the week was by FAR General Conference. Hearing the
prophet speak was a miracle in my life. I have always taken conference
for granted a little bit, but this time, it literally filled my heart
to hear servants of the Lord speak to us. As the voice came on and
started to say, “This is the 186th semiannual conference…”, my eyes
filled with tears of joy. I’m so grateful that my parents had us
recognize the apostles voices by name because now whenever I hear
them, I feel like I know them, like hearing my friends’ voices from
home.
And let´s be real. When Elder Holland talked about us not wanting
tomorrow to come after conference, he was talking to the missionaries.
I had the biggest conference hangover ever. I mean, I don’t know what
a real hangover feels like, but I think probably feels something like
that. (hehe kidding)
I loved all the music at conference, but especially hearing MY choir
from BYUI. What in the world, that was the biggest blessing ever to
see familiar faces from home, especially to see Sister Lord’s face,
out sweet director. They paned over the top row once, and I saw the
kids I sat by last semester! I would have been on GENERAL CONFERENCE.
But, I´m so glad I was here watching them all the way from Peru
instead.
It was so cool when at the beginning of conference, President Eyring
said something to the effect of, “People are gathered from around the
world to listen to conference, yet it feels as if we are in one big
hall”. Isn’t that the truth? It felt so special to know that in Peru
and in good ole Valleyford, my family and I were doing the exact same
thing. How cool. 
The highlight highlight HIGHLIGHT of this week was when President
Monson got up to speak. I feel so grateful for his guidance, and the
light he is in my life. I feel like President Monson and I have been
lifelong pals, and I KNOW with all my heart that he is a prophet of
God. Anyways, it is always such a joy and privledge especially since
his health is declining. When he got up to speak, he announced 4 new
temples. He announced the first 3, and then he said, “And a 2nd temple
in LIMA PERU” Woah WHAT. Oh my lanta, it was the most exciting thing
ever. Let be reiterate the craziness of this announcement: The only
other place with 2 temples in one city is Provo. Provo Utah and Lima
Peru. As I heard the words “Lima, Peru”, I felt strong feelings in my
heart that the work here is just beginning. It is blossoming right
now, and I felt Heavenly Father saying to me, “Hermana Clark, people
are waiting and ready. You go find them.”I mean, que en el mundo?! Of
all places in the whole world. I know that Heavenly Father has a great
work for me to do, and that the growth of the church here is like a
jet that is just about to take off on the runway.
I feel my calling to serve here in this beautiful land even greater
than before. What a wonderful time to be alive. God is so very aware
of his people in Peru, I know that for sure.
I’m grateful for the mission. For missionaries here in the CCM. For
the beautiful weather every darned day.
But most of all, I’m grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. He is my
brother, my example, my friend.  He and my Heavenly Father are aware
of my life, and continue to bless me. And they want to bless you too,
because they love you SO much.
Don’t any of you ever forget it.
Praying for you all ALWAYS.
Love, Hermana Clark

Week 3, yeehaw

HELLO HELLO FROM PERU!
Another fab week in paradise. Peru is just getting better and better.
How was Easter?! All the latinos here think that the American
traditions are just SO strange. One of the latinos said, “Why bunnies?
Why eggs? Why are they hidden?” Haha, I realized that I have no idea
why. It´s so funny, I love America.
The CCM is good, very good. SO much learning in one day, it’s a 16
hour day of basically going to school, teaching, service, more school,
learning about the gospel, work out, eat sleep. And your just ALWAYS
trying to get the most of it. You know how on the garden hose there’s
usually the “jet” setting that makes the water come out super fast?
Well, the CCM is kind of like drinking from the jet hose. You still
get water in your mouth, but it really hurts your face sometimes.
That’s my #analogybyaddy for the day, thank you thank you.
This week, all the Latinas that we have had for the last 3 weeks
headed out on their different missions. All the native spanish
speakers are only in the CCM for 3 weeks, and so we had to say goodbye
to them all on Monday. My heart just broke for them to leave, because
they are my BFF’s. No seriously. As I watched the bus that they all
packed into drive away, I cried tears of love, because they are going
to change lives, and be the best missionaries South America has ever
seen. WE all sang God be with you till we meet again in spanish
together before they left.
Also, this week one of the Elders in our zone went home. It broke all
of our hearts, because we wanted him to be out serving with us, but he
had to do what was best for him and I respect that.
On Thursday, I was feeling more homesick than ever. I missed my family
and my friends and was just thinking, “Man, my life was WAY easy
before this, and my family is the best, and I just took it all for
granted”. I just thought, “how easy would it be to be home or at BYU
Idaho right now?”. It would be a lot easier for me, that’s for sure.
BUT. That day when we all watched our friend catch the plane home back
to America, my heart was just so full of gratitude for the opportunity
I have to be here in Peru, and I don´t want to come home. Haha, I love
it so much here, and like I’ve said before, it’s already the hardest
thing I’ve ever done in my life, but you know what? It’s hard for
everyone. All of us missionaries have talked together, and  I’ve
realized, “hey Hermana Clark, it isn’t just you”. It’s made me toughen
up a lot more, you know like “rub a lil dirt on it” like Papa says?
Also, this week Hermana Haws (mi compañera) and I were called to be
the Sister Leaders here at the CCM, which I am pumped about.  All the
new sisters came today, and they are so sweet and cute and SO ready,
and so we are like the little mother hens of all the hermanas here in
the CCM, the latinas and the americanos, :)The CCM is a teeny-tiny in
comparison to the Provo Missionary Training Center, there’s only about
60 missionaries here I’d say right now.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE, I cant even explain. I loved
General Conference before the mission, but this love is like a
completely different level. I am so excited to hear the prophet speak.
(and because we have general conference, we dont have classes on
Saturday, wahoo!)
We play so much futbol here, we play every day. Two days ago, I had a
hat trick, and YES I know what that means. Pretty soon David Beckham
is going to be calling me and inviting me to dinner parties at his
house, and we’ll play a little one-on-one. ;)
Spanish lesson of the week. Alright class, pescado=fish. It’s usually
dead fish, like in the form that you eat. And then peCado (aka no s)
is sin. Okay, don’t forget that.
This week in on of my lessons, I said, “Through our Savior Jesus
Christ, we can be clean of fish”. The investigator (the one listening
to my lesson) was very confused and like started to nervous laugh, and
I was just like, “oh no no no, pecados! Pecados!” Anyways, now you all
know and are prepared to teach the doctrine that, “Through the Savior,
we can be clean of sin” :)
But in all seriousnesss, I KNOW that to be true. Our Savior Jesus
Christ suffered for us, and gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins
to meet the demands of justice. Because of Him, we all have the
opprotunity to live with our Heavenly Father again. BUT! It doesn’t
stop there. In order for us to be clean and free of guilt and sadness
about sad mistakes, we have to ACT. We have to have faith in Jesus
Christ and follow his commandments, and be willing and ready to change
our lives and follow Him. It doesn’t take a mere, “sure yeah, I
believe in the Savior”. It takes us striving to be like Him, and
sharing the love with others that he shares with us. We can do that no
matter what our circumstance. As you put forth your very VERY best
effort, Christ recognizes that, and He lifts you up and carries you
the rest of the way.
I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It has changed my life
and my heart for the best.
I know the Book of Mormon is true. I’ve been trying to read the whole
thing in these 6 weeks, and as I have read it diligently, desiring to
learn and improve, my heart has been filled with love for my Savior
Jesus Christ, even more than before.  The stories in the Book of
Mormon, similiar to the Bible, are stories of people in the Americas
around the same time the people in the Bible lived. The prophets in
the Book of Mormon are like the coolest you’d ever meet. I love their
faith.
The mish is good. Oh so good. I love you all SO much, and think of you often!
 I pray for you more than once a day. More than twice. Even more than 3 times.
God truly does love his children. I know it with all my heart.
Hasta luego!
Hermana Clark

Week 2 pics