Week #18

Here it has just been snowing and it was -24 this week.....my face was numb. I had to buy a parka, because the one I got when I first came into the mission was just way too big for me. This one is really nice it goes down to my knees.

Well we had a really good week. We had meetings and what not, but we really fit in some time to go finding. We went to the town houses, which are just the best, and we ended up finding 2 investigators there and then later that night we were calling Brother Richard for fellowship for a lesson that we had tomorrow, and we call him and he says "I'm just learning Japanese with my roommate right now" and I say "hey I took Japanese in high school" and so he told me to talk to his roommate Takuma. So I said the only words that I know but then we were like you should teach us Japanese and we said we will be there in 15 minutes. So we show up and we end up teaching both of his roommates. Their names are Roel, who is Filipino, and Takuma. They are both 2 new investigators! Takuma doesn't believe much in religion though, but we invited them to the Christmas devotional.

So at the Christmas devotional only Takuma and Brother Richard showed up because Roel had to work. But at the end of it I was talking to Takuma and asking him what he thought and he said it was different but he liked it. We then asked him how he felt. He said he felt really peaceful and felt like clean water. We told him that was the Spirit of God. We asked him if he would like to always have that feeling and he said yes, but how is it possible? We talked about baptism and told him that when we teach him more we can help him understand how he can have those feelings. It was a great miracle. I really know that this is the Lord's work.

The bishop from the Dalhousie Ward invited us to their Christmas party, and it was a Filipino Christmas! It was the best thing ever. That was some really good food. All the Filipinos cooked food and did a whole program of stuff, it was a lot of fun. I love the Filipinos!

We got all of transfer planning done and this next transfer we will be sooo busy.....Also i am feeling a little under the weather today so I hope I can get back on my feet real quick, because we have those brethren coming from the MTC tomorrow.

All is well,
-Elder Clark

Week #17

So this week we had some really neat experiences! We went to Taco Bell, of course, and when we went in this guy started yelling at us saying "hey you preaching the word!!" and we say "you bet we are" so then we just kept talking to him and then started talking to his friend and his friend Carlos just loved us!! He was like lets go sit by them and he says yeah sure that's fine with me. So Carlos was just super interested in all that we had to say and the other guy wasn't too interested but we split up and we just started teaching 2 lessons... in Taco Bell! It was so neat and at the end Carlos was saying please call me! So it was a neat experience.

Then on exchanges we tracted into this lady from Nigeria! We set up an appointment with her. Elder McDanel and I taught her and her son. So we have 2 new investigators and they're both from Nigeria! That's what I love about Canada, especially Winnipeg, because you don't need to go to another country to teach people in a different culture. Just come to Canada because they all live here.

We had Thanksgiving on Thursday and that was really fun. I need a nap but just haven't had anytime to fit it in. Oh well. We are doing transfer planning this week so this week will be very busy as well.

I have been getting really good at knowing my scriptures but I still need to work on it. I love serving a mission. I love the people of Canada, too! Especially the Filipinos! They are just soo great!

All is well,
-Elder Clark

Week #16

This week has been something else....it has just been super busy and just go go go. I love it though! I saw the northern lights while I was in Regina! They were big and bright and neon green in the sky. They were so neat. Elder McDanel and I went like out of the city and in the middle of nowhere just to look at them! They were huge! It's just like you would see them in the movies!! I love Heavenly Father for sending his son to create all these wonderful things. 

 We went on exchanges with a lot of the elders up in Regina and then in Saskatoon. I was on an exchange with Elder Perkins who is a zone leader and we were doing work. We were late to our appointment and we parked downtown in Regina and figured out that we were at the wrong place so we just started running to the place in
downtown Regina. Elder Perkins stopped in 7-11 to get directions and we ran in to buy a water and give it to a homeless man. We got to our appointment and everything worked out fine and then we were late to our next one but they called us and told us they were running late. It was super neat because the Lord just made everything go well just from that small act of stopping and getting that homeless guy a water.

We went to Brandon on Saturday and they baptized a guy from Rwanda who I was able to teach a month ago on an exchange with Elder Barfuss so it is just super neat to seem him baptized. It was a very good experience. 

Every Tuesday we go and play basketball with the Filipinos! I love those people!! I'm getting good at basketball so watch out! I'll be shooting 3's for days whoop whoop. 

Canada is full of people from the whole world! I really want to try buloot or whatever it's called. The Filipinos eat it. What it is is an undeveloped egg. Gross hey? Apparently it's really good. 

Everything has been going really good here. Except the elders that were here that we were helping out left the milk and chocolate milk out before they left, so we came home to some gross milk....who does that eh? You're always supposed to put the milk back. 

Well I met with president today and it was really good! I love that man and he helped me out. So I think I know what I'm doing here. And we're having Thanksgiving on Thursday! I'm excited. 

Well that is pretty much my week. I've just been on the road a lot and have been eating a lot of fast food. I feel fat but I'll work it off. 

I know the scriptures are true, as we truly liken them to ourselves, then they have way more meaning and they make sense. I know this is the Lord's work and I love this gospel. GALATIANS 5:22 and that is exactly what I feel when I read The Book of Mormon. That is how I feel when I go out and do missionary work.

All is well, 

-Elder Clark

Week #15

Robert hit the 4 months mark yesterday! He is 1/6 of the way done!

I'm just busy busy it seems like! We got a ton of snow and it was like -12... so 10 degrees I think! Elder McDanel and I get along great! We are like the same person in a way, it's great. He pushes me like no other, which I like. He makes me work harder!

Our mission will be getting a minimum of like 144 missionaries because of the new revelation!!! It's gonna be a handful but exciting!!!

We are traveling to saskatchewan today, headed up to Regina and the Zone leaders got us a time to go to the temple when we get up there so I'm really excited about that! Well my week has been really busy. We have just been working with the I-fall elders and keeping them busy. We have also been working with less actives now. There is 28% of activity in the church here in this mission. We need to bring back the less actives before we can find new investigators. There are a lot of less actives with part member families. We're focusing a lot on them mainly because we don't  want to baptize new investigators into the church if the members are leaving and becoming inactive. I know what it is like to not want to come to church, so I can relate to them. I'm just really excited to work with less actives!

On Thursday we went and fed the homeless! I love those people so much. They are great people and smart, too. They're just in a bad circumstance. Also we were able to teach some people as we were on the hunt for less actives. 

I have a strong testimony of this work and of this gospel. I just love helping people and bringing them the gospel in their life! 

All is well,
-Elder Clark

Week #14

I still do a lot of my own cooking but Elder McDanel and I have just been getting sushi all the time! There is this super good place called California Sushi! The Asian man just loves us, he even gave us free noodles. But there are a lot of the times where we will go over to the mission home and eat with President and Sister Thomas. We stay in the mission office home and there are two rooms with two sets of bunk beds, so a total of 8 missionaries can stay there, which happens for things like zone conferences or ZTM or when trainers and new missionaries come. Honestly we don't do a lot of tracting....kind of lame :( We are currently helping out two missionaries who just need some help getting back on their feet. They have been with us since last week and this week, and then we will travel up to Saskatchewan for exchanges with missionaries, and so we will be up there for a week. Then the following week we will be doing exchanges with missionaries in Manitoba and then the next week we do transfer planning. We have just been super busy with meetings and just helping out missionaries. For exchanges with Manitoba we bring missionaries into our area and tract out our area. 

So this week has just been really busy. I don't get to bed until like 12. I have never been so tired in my life. I am just dead, but i love it. It's great! Everything is still just super new to me so I'm still just trying to get a hold on things, but it will be ok. Elder McDanel is from Preston, Idaho and he had Napoleon Dynamite's locker...haha. He's a super great guy. He pushes me to work harder, it's teaching me a lot.

This week we had meetings, but last night was one of those most spiritual nights I have had yet. Elder McDanel and I were running to do some errands. We saw this guy on the side of the road because his car broke down. We both had the impression to stop, so we did. We went over there and asked if there was anything we could do to help and he said no because he was just going to call a tow truck. We both said a little prayer in our hearts that the car would start and we gave him a pass-along card. We turned around and took 5 steps and his car fired right up. Then, we were driving home and we saw these girls lighting candles where their friend died. She died last Thursday. She hit a tree and died on impact. We drove by and both had a super huge impression to stop and go teach them about the plan of salvation. We had no idea what we were doing haha we said a quick prayer. They were in their car and so we stopped by the place where they were lighting candles and then we walked to their car. They rolled down the windows and we just testified of God's plan and gave them a card to look at mormon.org. By the time we left they were just about in tears and we saw them pull out their phones and start looking up the website. It was just neat! God put them in our path for a reason.

Everything is going great here! Our meetings have gone super great as well. Being an Assistant is for sure a challenge. It is not easy. It's something I'm not used to but I'm just going at it with a willing heart and a willing mind. 

This week and the rest of the transfer will just be super busy! But I love it. It is so great! :)

All is well,
-Elder Clark

Week #13

This week has just been crazy and kinda stressful. But I'm feeling better now. I still have p-days on Monday. We have only tracted for an hour this week....just because we are super busy. We don't get to bed until like midnight because of call-ins with zone leaders and indicators and planning for meetings. I have never been so tired in my life... I'm dead but I love it. We picked up new missionaries at the airport on Wednesday, and that was fun. We had a training meeting and then a meeting for the new missionaries. This week is full with meetings and then next week we will be busy with exchanges with some of the missionaries in this zone. The following week we will be up in Saskatchewan on exchanges as well, and I think we might fly because of snow but not sure. We are just traveling everywhere, so i get to see the whole mission!

My new home is at the mission office and it's a two story house. It's fun I like it. I have just been super stressed and I don't know what's going on this week. I have just been a little down and not myself but I realized that and thought to myself, "what are you doing, you need to check yourself" My companion Elder McDanel is from Idaho! He is the best I love him, He's a crazy redneck! Also I met Tonya Fields' sister-in-law the other day!! Small world!! 

Being an assistant is great, I get to be around President and I love that! We had a steak dinner the other night! Pretty good eh? I don't know how long I will be an AP for....Probably a while. So I better get used to it.

President got back from a seminar in Nauvoo and said that because of the age change and increase of missionary applications, most of the people who are in North America will be serving in North America!

The baptism was sooooo good and it was just neat! Elder Wilson had to break the ICE, it was pretty thick! I baptized Logan, and let me tell you what....It was cold like ICE cold, but I just acted as if it were warm! Logan on the other hand was crying after he was baptized because it was so cold. He was in shock! Poor guy. 

I have been getting tons of letters this week that I don't know if I can even keep up with writing back. 

It's getting cold up here. Life is good though. I feel the spirit so much more now for some reason. 

I have been studying the doctrine of Christ for 7 days and it has changed my life.....I promise if each and everyone of you study the doctrine of Christ for 7 days, particularly the atonement, then you will see it change your life in a way you couldn't imagine. President and Sister Thomas challenged us to do it and the promise was real. My testimony has just grown so much from this week and just from the scriptures. I love it! 

All is well,

-Elder Clark

Week #12

I don't even know where to start... this week was just so spiritual and just crazy. 

Crystal is actually getting baptized in a river now!! and yes because we don't have a font. I had to go in and check if the water was deep enough, and i got it OK'd from the assistants. AND WOW THAT WATER IS SOOOOO COLD!!! I'm glad I'm not the one getting baptized. But I will make sure to take lots of pictures

Thursday we had district meeting and President and Sister Thomas and the assistants came. Elder Deeble, one of the assistants goes home this Friday. So President came to do a portion in the district meeting and also at the end to give us our transfer calls. This will be my second transfer, because I've only been out for 12 weeks and I just got done training. I had the weirdest feeling about that day. I just felt something was going to happen. President called Elder Wilson and I in to give us our transfer calls... I was worried because Elder Wilson and I wanted to stay together. So President told Elder Wilson that he would be staying in Dauphin to train Elder Nelson, a new missionary. Then he looked at me and said Elder Clark you'll be going with Elder McDanel. You will be the new assistant... I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Elder McDanel bore his testimony and said "When I saw your picture up with mine there was peace and comfort throughout my whole body and I know you are supposed to come to the office with me. You are supposed to be the new Assistant". President Thomas felt the same way....this doesn't happen....I just got out of training.....They said that it was all the Lord's doing. I know that the Lord has called me to be the new assistant. I'm a brand new missionary and there's tons of missionaries who have been out here for a year and I didn't understand why he didn't call one of the zone leaders. But I know that the Lord has called me to do this and that he sees something in me. This has been a very humbling experience for me. The last two days my mind has just been trying to get a hold on all of this. But I'm excited and it will be an adventure. Elder McDanel is such a good guy though! I'm learning tons from him! The only thing I have been worried about is respect from the other missionaries. But ill just jump in with a positive attitude. This coming Friday I get to pick up the new missionaries from the airport! Woohoo!

We had stake conference and Elder McDanel and I were just receiving tons of revelation on how we can help the mission. The spirit was just so big it was like punching me. Being an assistant is great and I just feel way closer to the spirit.

I will also be going up for Crystal's baptism as well because the assistants go to the baptisms. Fun. I get to do a lot of traveling I think! And I get to be around the office staff and President and Sister Thomas. I also live in the office home. This means I get mail faster because it all comes to the mission office.

I love this mission. I love my savior and everything that he has done for me and everyone. The atonement is real.

All is well,

-Elder Clark