This Week

Mi querido mama y papa, (y todas en mi dulce familia)

How are you? How was the week? It is officially summer in good ole Valleyford, huh? Now you all get to experience the life of a Quillabambean cada dia with the warm warm weather. 

I traveled to Lima this week, and to be honest, I didn't really enjoy it, haha. It was so weird to leave the mission boundaries. This week, I received a letter from one of my missionary páls from the CCM, and she returned home. It absolutely broke my heart, and so as we traveled to Lima, I tried to pretend that I was going home, and how it would feel. Would I be satisfied with all that I have accomplished in my mission? To be honest, it was kind of a traumatizing experience for me. THat whole day, I just felt sad. 

Gosh, I can't even tell you of the relief as our plane landed in Cusco once more. I felt like myself again, so full of relief, and my heart just felt happy. I KNOW that this is where I am meant to be. Sin duda. 

T and J are my heart right now. I love them, and this week we had our Stake Conference with President Harbertson, and they came to both sessions,saturday night, AND Sunday, and you know what? They show up in suit and tie, and T and J bought cesar a suit. WHAT. Ahh, I really think that Heavenly Father send some of his angels to me in Quilla. 

 T, J & C

I shared a lot in my audio, so I'll just let you listen to that. Really nowadays, I want to use my hour internet time to download mormon messages for my investigators or to look for conference talks that we could use to help the members here. I am well aware that my letters are getting less and less interesting. It takes a real focused brain, and lots of time to write the kind of letters I wrote in the CCM, but hey! I'm doing my best. 

Know that I am thinking of you all this week! I had the realization yesterday on Father's day, how grateful I am for fathers. But, as I was thinking about "fathers" in general, I forgot about my Heavenly Father, and so yesterday, even through my dad wasn't here with me to celebrate, I remembered my Heavenly Father, who is very very present in my life here in Quillabamba. Grateful to know that our God, the creator of all things good, is our loving Heavenly FATHER. Grateful for all the Fathers ib my life. My Papa, Gramps, Grandpa Stu, all of my uncles, my bishop at home, and my good ole Dad. :) Grateful for them, and the love they have shown me. 

LOVE YOU ALL!

This is Y that I teach piano to..

PARASITAS

This week was rockin in Peru. :) It has been so good here, and things are always looking up. 

I HAVE been pretty sick for a good while, but this week we found out the problem! We went and did a lab test, and if you think peeing in a cup is uncomfortable, you should try pooping in a cup, wowazowa that has to be my new LEAST favorite thing in the world. Sorry to be visual, but the point is, we found out that I have PARASITAS, or parasites in my stomach, and an intestinal infection. This isn't to make you all worry, because really ALL is well! I feel so silly for talking about how I want to get sick on the mish (BEFORE the mission), and here I was this week, throwing up more than I ever have in my life, and wow, it was miserable. I think the moment when I had no pride left was one night when I threw up in the streets, and these two ladies that were sitting outside on the curb saw it, and immediately went inside. Oh la verguenza, pero está bien. ;) haha

All is well now, I had an injection, and am taking another antibiotic. Really came to appreciate medicine and the hospitals in the United States, because the hospital here was quite sketchy. SO many funny experiences I can't wait to tell you after the mish. 

Also, this week, I invited two of our investigators to be baptized, one said yes, and one was unsure. That happens, I've found, and even though I want everyone to jump for joy, and say "YES! Give me all the happiness possible!" lots of people don't. But, that's okay, we all have the gift of choosing what we want in this life. Some people choose paths that make them so sad, or where they are constantly questioning "what is my purpose, and what am I doing with my life?" I just want to remind all of my family, the people that I LOVE most, that the gospel gives us purpose, that the gospel makes us happier than things; happier than sports, happier than work, happier than money. Right? Alma 5:16 says, if you have felt to sing the song of Christ's redeeming love, I would ask: can ye feel so now? If I'm not feeling good about me, or about my life, or about others, what do I need to change in my life to feel the JOY of the gospel again? This is my question. I am so grateful for my family, most importantly, my family of my mom and dad, and siblings, but I also have so much love in my heart for every member of my family, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, and my cousins. I hope that you all feel that love. I think of you as I serve EVERY DAY. 

The gospel is true. I invited T and J to a baptism this week, and THEY SAID YES! Oh man, I love those two so much. I feel like they have filled a piece of my heart that has always been waiting for them. They are my family here and the date we set for them in the 6th of August. 

Love you all lots, you are always in my prayers and I hope you know that. 

Quillabamba sends its love!

carta ( yo tengo 3 meses en la misión!)

Moms and Pops, 

Wow mom, thank you so much for the audio. I LOVE HEARING YOUR VOICE. 

I don't think it's necessarily "easier" to do audios, because I'll listen to the whole of it when I get back to our room on the dvd player, but it is so nice, and would be so nice to receive one audio a week. If one of you can send one each week, that would be the coolest. My internet hour is slowly getting less stressful, because I never have time to write people, and so slowly people aren't writing me too, which honestly makes it easier. (as long as I know everything is well at home, all are healthy and happy.) 

This week was another great one. My life is so routine now here, it's like I've been living in Quilla all my life. I know my way around, all the members know my name, and call on me when they need help, I can give people directions here in our sector, and I know our phone number by heart. (hehe, that's a little thing I've been working on)

Juice in a bag!

My Arch Nemisus! 

I love talking to people about America here. Their perceptions of America are so funny, that everything in America is NYC and we are all robots. haha, I love it. The youth always ask me to sing popular american songs, songs by Justin Bieber or One Direction, because I'm from America and can speak English. I love it.

Speaking of music, I've been teaching piano lessons! That's a new exciting thing! I felt inadequate, but have in depth prepared and right now am teaching 3 girls, one is 13, one is 6 and one is 10. They had their first lesson saturday, and will have a 30 min lesson every week. Play the piano in a  branch in Quillabamba for sacrament meeting, and they will have music for as long as I am here, but teach a girl HERE to play, and they will have music for a lifetime!

This week, I also hemmed our investigator Nori's pants! 

What in the world GRAMS, who would've thought when you were teaching me to hem the week before I left on my mission that I'd be hemming someone's pants so soon! (well, I guess YOU did, that's probably why you taught me. SO grateful for my Grammy)

T and J only continue to progress. Their little boy C  is 2 and he LOVES Bubble Guppies. Everytime we visit him, I think of Lincoln Jay. (who is 4 now, what in the world, stop growing please Mr. Link) 

T and J are the realist investigators I have had. They keep their commitments, pray, and attend church with us. They ask questions like, "what is the little cup of water and the bread when we go to church?" and "what is the correct way to be baptized?" They are unreal, and my heart is full of love for them. They are a part of my extended family, I'm pretty sure. Love them 

But, that doesn't mean their lives are perfect. I have come to know that we are ALWAYS going to find problems in families as we teach on our missions. Because we all have problems in our lives, right? 

BUT. I KNOW with all my heart that there is no problem that the gospel of Jesus Christ can't fix. We have the opportunity to repent every day, and we have the hope, that through Christ, we can live with our loving Heavenly Father again, in happiness that will last forever. 

I invited one of our investigators, R, to be baptized this week. R has SO many problems, and maybe isn't making the best choices in her life. She has lots of problems with her children, and they don't get along. (She's probably 50-60ish)

I felt prompted to tell her this week, "if you are preparing for baptism, and are truly repenting, and are trying with all YOUR efforts to be like our Savior and follow His example, I can PROMISE you R that you will feel peace in your relationships with your children and you will start to feel all your burdens lifted". 

I would say the same to all of you. Do not "doubt the Lord and all his goodness", because I KNOW that you have "proved Him in days that are past". You have learned for yourself the goodness of the gospel, and the happiness you can have through it. If everyone would strive to be a little more like Christ, not only would the world be a better place, but we'd feel better about ourselves and feel HAPPY about our lives. 

I really like 4 NE 1:15. The people loved each other because they loved God. 

And I love my Heavenly Father SO stinkin much. And he loves us too. 

Love you all forever! Grateful for your prayers. I feel and need them here as a missionary. 

Love, Hermana Clark

May 30, 2016 MIRACLE

Hello hello to the people I love most!

How are you? Dad, guess what. I received THREE (yes, 3) of your packages this week. Wow wow wow, they made me jump for joy. I loved every single part of them. The medical masks cracked me up, oh my word. hahaha, Dad you are the best.  

 My package! 

 The masks from you Dad, haha

Necklace from Dad, what a treasure! 

And the pics of Christ. MEET THE MORMONS! Band aids! Candy! My favorite thing of all is the necklace. I am going to wear it every single day of my mission. No really. It has given me so many opportunities to bear my testimony, because people ask, "what does your necklace say?" and then I tell them, "Usted puede hacer cosas dificiles" and then I tell them why. It's so awesome!

Anyways, I have a testimony of miracles. And now, boy do I ever. 

 Ku-Ku-Ku-Quilla. (that's my nickname for this wondeful place)

This week, we taught T and J for the first time.  We found them last week at the capilla (yes, at the capilla) that wanted to know more about the church. As we have started to teach them, they told us that last Sunday, they got into a mototaxi and told the driver, "take us to a church!" They literally live across the street from the largest Catholic church in all of Quillabamba, and the driver took them to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Wait what.  It's a miracle, it really is. They are so good, SO good. They seem like they are members, and I can't wait until they are. We will see how things go, but they have such good desires, and hearts full of faith. T and J, and their little one, C. I love them so much already. 

 We brought R, a soon to be missionary with us to our first lesson, and the spirit in their home as we taught was so strong. We taught them again this week, and then they asked us if they could feed us dinner? What in the world, am I dreaming? I think I am. In our second lesson, T told us, "Hermanas, you have such a special spirit, and I already know you both are going to be a special part of our lives" I am crying as I type, because gosh, how great a privilege I have.  I know the gospel is true, and I know that I am here for a specific reason. I don't know for sure whether they will be baptized, but the Lord does, and he's allowing me, me Hermana Clark, to teach this sweetest family.

: Keep your eye out for Elder U! He is going to serve in POCATELLO IDAHO!: 

 I want so bad for them to have every blessing possible. This church is true. I know it. I know God hears our prayers. There is no coincidence, only the great goodness of our sweet Heavenly Father. I love Him so much, and am grateful for his hand of help in all I do. Love you all, and continue to pray & I'll do the same! 

Lotsa love forever all the way from Quillabamba!

 My favorite meal here, and I don't know how to pronounce the name!

Hna maria and yuli, my bffs here, haha. 

Happy Birthday Jackson!

May 23, 2016 PRAYERS ANSWERED

Guess what guess what guess what. 

First of all, I want to say, THANK YOU for the prayers. To every single person who has ever offered a prayer for me, thank you. 

This week was a miracle. 

~Love that the same moon I see in Quillabamaba is the moon you see at home~

We have had very very little success in the ways of numbers. If someone only looked at my stats as a missionary, they would think, wow she's pretty lousy. But, I work so hard and give it all I got, and guess what? When we give all we have, the Lord? He recognizes that. 

Anyways, this week one of my friends from the CCM wrote me and told me that she is having her second baptism this week. My mission is in NO WAY like that. We pray that we can have investigators TO TEACH. That we can teach lessons every day, because goshdangit, we've got quite a few flakes here in Quillabamba. haha, I say flakes out of love, don't worry. 

Well last week, we fasted. We have been praying and praying hard. We fasted that we could have new investigators, because we had had 1 in 5 weeks. ONE in five weeks. That's pretty rough. And actually, all this week was rough, we still hadn't found investigators, and I was kind of frustrated to be honest. I thought, "How long does my Heavenly Father want me to be patient?" I sing, "Mas paciencia dar me" cada dia, and let's be real, I've never been very patient. But wow, Heavenly Father blesses me. 

My package arrived! 

This Sunday, we arrived to the capilla as usual, I played the hymns as usual, and THEN, after church, we spot JL, this menos activo and his wife, and his wife isn't a member, with their two little kids. We had tried to visit them SO many times, and they always weren't home or busy, but here they are the in capilla?! What in the world. They then stayed for all 3 hours of church, and V is planning on coming next week! Okay, that's awesome, but then get this. Presidente Chavez calls us into his office during sunday school, and there's this cute family, J,T and their little boy C sitting there. President then tells us that they aren't members, but attended sacrament meeting this morning and they want to know more. They (This family) INVITED US OVER TO TEACH THEM. We didn't ask them when we could, they invited us. I wanted to cry, no really, I didn't know what to say. We have two new families to teach. It is a miracle. 

On Saturday, we made empanadas with some sisters from the relief society, and as we were riding home in a mototaxi, I felt this strong impression to give my empanada to the driver, which I really didn't want to hear, because I wanted that empanada so bad, and it  was going to be so tasty, and it was hard work to make too. But, I kept on feeling that I should, and so I remember thinking, "Alright Heavenly Father, I'm going to give this empanada to this man, because I love you, and to SHOW you that I will be obedient and that I am ready to be an instrument in your hands." And as we arrived at our house, I gave the man my empanada and a picture of Christ, and he was grateful, and I went on my way. 

 The mattresses we helped move

Where we live! 

I'm not saying that because I gave food to a stranger that Heavenly Father provided me with people to teach. 

I'm saying that Heavenly Father blesses us when we are obedient. He sees our efforts, he knows when we cry because we are doing our best, and seeing no results. And guess what? He acknowledges them. (Sometimes in big ways, like a new family in the capilla, what what. :) 

As we do our best, Heavenly Father does the rest. (I really like that phrase, and not only because it rhymes, and I am a poet, hehe)

I also know that God answers prayers. He hears every word that we say, and he knows how we feel. Right now, I am SO pumped about my mission, and he knows how that feeling feels too, not just my sad ones.

I love this gospel, and I want all the world to have and to hear it!

Lotsa love all the way from Quillabamba!

 Mami I and Hermano L, our pension. They rock, they are so cool! 

 Me and JP, our pension brother. He danced in the festivities, so crazy.