Week #71

This week was the coldest week I have ever experienced in my life, and let me tell you why. It has literally been -39 everyday here with the wind chill. Tuesday Destiny had all 4 of us over for a pizza party and we watched Prophet of The Restoration it was really good. When we went in to her house the snow on our shoes had melted and became wet, and when we left her house to go home, we put our shoes back on and right when we stepped outside our shoes immediately froze to the ground.......haha I had to lift my foot up pretty hard off the ground and then I could walk again. isn't that crazy? And then on Wednesday it was -40 so we weren't aloud to proselyte because it is really dangerous, so we went to the other elders apartment to do some planning and to have lunch, and when I walked to there door, my eyes were watery and when I blinked my eye lids froze shut...ha but I was able to lift them so it wasn't that bad but it was really cold.

Elder Wilson and I officially became companions Wednesday night! and on on Wednesday night we just did work! we met with a Filipino family and set up an appointment with them on Tuesday, they are very prepared. We were very diligent. On Thursday we walked all day in -39 which is about -36 or -37 F and I had my parka all zipped up and I was layered and everything, well.......while we were walking I thought it would be funny to stick my tongue to the back of my zipper to see what would happen, and haha....uhhh it stuck like in the movie A Christmas Story.....it was really scary I had to pull my tongue off of it and it ripped a chuck of skin off my tongue and it was bleeding it hurt really bad and the skin from my tongue was still stuck to my zipper after I had pulled it off. It is so cold that when we breath we literally cough up a lung and so cold that our named tags had frost all over them. It was a brutal week......But luckily today it is only -20 so it is not that bad today.

On Saturday Elder Wilson and I we didn't have a whole lot to do, so we asked god to help us with what we had and to make it enough, we ended up contacting a potential investigator who is Filipino and she invited us to her nephew's birthday party on Sunday. We were able to talk to a lot of people on Saturday and we were busy. I know that if we do all we can and we take to the lord what we have and ask him to make it enough, he will and he will bless us with more, as we act for our selves and be sincere he will make what we have enough. 

So on Sunday we went to that Filipino birthday party, and we were able to set up an appointment with our potential investigator, and during that party we split up, Elder Wilson was talking to our Filipino friend and I went into the kitchen and started talking with the other Filipinos, with the Tagalog that I know. And our Filipino friend that invited us over she lives with her sister and her sisters son was the one having the birthday party and so I was talking to her sisters husband Henny, and turns out he is a less active member of the church! He grew up Mormon all of his life and in order to marry his wife he had to convert to Roman Catholic. I asked him if he still believes in the church and he says he still kinda does, and because he still kinda does he doesn't do the cross symbol at Catholic mass. He said that his book of Mormon was still in the Philippines. I asked him if we could just come and share a Christmas message with him and his family, he said he would talk to his wife. At the end of the party all of the Filipinos just loved us even all the little kids, and Henny's wife said that were are welcome any time and that their door is always open for us.  In 1 Nephi 10:19 it says "For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round". I know that that is true.

 This week is going to be really good we have an appointment with some one of our members and they are having their friends over for family home evening, and we were able to meet them at the Christmas devotional they are from Mexico, we are excited to teach them. The work is true even in -40 

Love you and all of you so much! :))

-Elder Clark