BUSY LIFE OF A MISSIONARY

Well, another week has flown by here in Rock Springs, WY. The weather has been absolutely perfect. All everyone does out here is hunt, fish, and go off-roading, so not too many people have been home the past week. We've been staying really busy though.... We're teaching almost 40 lessons a week, and our mission standard is 20. The people out here are super friendly and a lot easier to talk to than my last 2 areas. I feel like we get in a lot more doors out here than we would in Salk Lake. Living with 2 other Elders is an adventure for sure. Our nights can get pretty crazy. We seem to be good in the morning while we're studying and what not, but it must be something about coming home from working all day that just makes us joke around a lot. We gave a talk in one of our wards yesterday, and our topics were on motherhood. As you all know, I didn't have a very hard time writing on that topic. I used a talk given by Elder Perry in the April 2010 general conference session, titled, "Mothers Teaching Children in the Home". I've been sick the past couple days, so it was a little harder to give the talk but I managed. I think it went well, and Elder Peter's was good too. One of our investigators, Sam, was there with his family and I think they enjoyed it. We're gonna go to one of his baseball games this week and cheer him on. Apparently, he’s quite the little ball player. We've also been progressing with Justin pretty nicely. He has a hard time reading, but he absorbs the lessons that we've taught so far. His desire is definitely there and that's extremely important. We've picked up a few new investigators this week and one of our Bishops gave us a couple names of people that could be potentials. We'll see where that all goes. One of our investigators, Ben, has had a really busy week and won't be able to meet with us until the beginning of next month. We've met some really cool members though, and they all want to help with missionary work. We're going to a Memorial Day cook out with a really cool family, the Tolhurst's. They're a younger couple with 2 little kids. We like them a lot. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and weekend with their friends and family!! I'm thinking about everyone and keeping you all in my prayers. I love and miss Taylor Lindsey and my sweet boy, Ralphie. :)

Love, Elder Clark

TRANSFER TO ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING

Rock Springs, Wyoming.... I would have never guessed that when I got called to Salt Lake City, UT, that I could serve in an area like this. It's a desert, but other than that it's a lot like home. Trucks everywhere, everyone talks about hunting or fishing, and I think it's the only place in my mission where I'll find this amount of southern accents. My first week here has been great! There's so much work here that it's not even funny. There are 4 sets of missionaries in Rock Springs, so that tells you how much work there is out here. I went from covering 7 wards in the Salt Lake Valley to covering 3 here. We cover the White Mountain, Overland, and Gateway Wards, and we're in the Rock Springs Stake. My companion is Elder Peters, from Las Vegas, Nevada!! He's been out just one more transfer (6 weeks) than me, so we're both still greenies.... haha. But for some reason they made me the senior companion, so I have no idea what that means.... He's been in this area for 3 months now, so he knows it pretty well. It helps when you have a companion that knows the area and the members well enough to get you acquainted as well. We live in an apartment with another set of Elders, Elders Kaya and Hoffman. Kaya is training Hoffman who just came out last Tuesday. This is also Kaya's last transfer, so he's kind of sad that he's going home. He served as AP with my trainer, Elder Ackley, so we talk about stories he told me of them a lot. Anyways, the work here is awesome. We have a lot of people that we're teaching and several that are close to being baptized. The members here are great and love feeding us, just like the valley. I've met a lot of cool people out here so far, and I know I’m going to meet a lot more. We just ate dinner last night with a family whose son is leaving in July for his mission. He's going to Lima, Peru. They're all huge sport nuts just like me, so that was nice to talk about. We're gonna play basketball with the two sons and their ward, and hopefully bring some investigators or less actives along as well. We're teaching a 10 year old named Sam who is super smart and wants to be baptized. We're also teaching a guy named Ben who is a firefighter and wants to get baptized so that he can baptize his daughter. We just started teaching a man named, Justin, who just moved here from South Carolina 2 weeks ago. He moved here for a girl who is a member, and came to church the first Sunday he was here and liked it. We asked him, "Would you be baptized if you came to know that the things we are teaching are true?" and he said yes. We've seen several miracles already, and we're hoping to just build on the momentum and motivation that we've had. I know I'm gonna like it out here, even though it's a little different. God wants me here for a specific reason and purpose. I love and miss you all. Taylor and Ralphie I love and miss even more.     

Love, Elder Clark

ON THE MOVE AGAIN – I’LL GO WHERE YOU WANT ME TO GO

Well, transfers are tomorrow and I'm getting transferred again..... I don't really understand it, but I know it's the Lord's will. I was just starting to get used to this area, like I was in my last area, and now I'm going somewhere else. Elder Bischoff is staying here, which means this will be his 4th transfer in this area. Our mission got 9 missionaries from the Donetsk, Ukraine Mission this last week, so we'll have them plus the 10 new missionaries we're getting from the MTC. Maybe Bischoff or I will get put with one of the missionaries from the Ukraine Mission. They're all American. They just got reassigned here because of the conflicts happening over there right now. Anyways, I got to Skype home yesterday for Mother's Day! It was so awesome to get to talk to and see my family and Taylor. It reminded me just how lucky I am to have such strong support and love back home. Hazel had surgery on Wednesday. She's back home now and recuperating. She said that hopefully we'll be able to meet with her sometime next week. Of course, I won't be here but as long as the work is getting done that's all that matters. Hopefully I'll be able to come back to this area for her baptism. I've really grown to love and care for Hazel a lot, and I know she feels the same way. We've been working with a fellow who just lost his wife to Alzheimer's a few months ago. He wants to get sealed to her in the temple, but has to work through some Word of Wisdom issues first. We've been his support system, and we’ve just been visiting him as much as we can. He tells us that he loves when we come over and visit him. He's probably around 60 years old and he's one of the nicest guys you'll meet. His wife being sealed to him for time and all eternity is really important to him, and I can understand why. He's trying really hard to get there. It's been raining a ton here this last week, so being on bikes and in the rain has slowed work down a little bit this week. We're eating dinner with our Kentucky friends again tonight. They always insist on feeding us, and Monday nights are the only night that our wards don't feed us. They're cooking us chicken and dumplings, so I think it'll be a perfect last meal in this area. :) I've loved getting to work here in Sugar House and I know I'll miss it, just like I miss the Avenues. I also know that I'll love wherever I'm going and I know I'm going there for a reason. I love and miss all of you back home. I keep everyone in my prayers. Oh yeah, and I love Taylor and Ralphie too. ;)

Love, Elder Clark

SERVICE FOR AND WITH THE LORD

Well today is my 3 month mark..... It feels like I've been here for 3 weeks. A week from Tuesday is transfers already..... Craziness....  I'm pretty certain I'll stay here, but Bischoff might leave. He's been here 4 and a half months, so who knows. We hope we stay together, but anything can happen. This week has flown by just like all the rest. We're still meeting with Hazel, and she's just so amazing. She's truly becoming converted and feeling the true love of Christ in her life. She told us on Sunday, in Sunday school, that she's never felt so much love from any other church. That tells us just how much the ward is fellowshipping her and helping her feel loved and cared for. She goes in for surgery this Wednesday, the 7th, so be sure to keep her in your prayers that she has a full recovery. We put her on the temple prayer roll this morning. We're really worried about her, but I'm sure everything will be fine. One of our wards had a tres de mayo picnic on Saturday. We had a taco truck come and serve everyone tacos, a guacamole contest for the best one, a bonfire with s'mores, and all sorts of sports and games. We, along with the ward, invited the whole neighborhood. It was a huge success. We were there just talking and socializing with as many people as possible. Bishop told us afterwards that about half of the people that came were non-members or less-actives that lived in the neighborhood. Hopefully a lot of seeds were planted with that one activity. Our Kentucky friends came as well, so we were pretty stoked about them being there. I played some soccer with the kids and that was a ton of fun. We're going hiking at Millcreek today with a few other missionaries, so I have to cut this email short. Elder Bischoff and I are truly loving the Lord's work. We're seeing the fruits of our labors every day. Remember to always keep the Lord's desires in front of your own. His work is so important, and it's an honor to serve not only for, but also with Him. I love and miss you all. I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers. I hope everyone made it through all the bad weather. That's all anyone has been asking me about when I tell them I'm from Nashville. Of course, I especially love and pray for my sweet, Taylor and Ralphie.

Love, Elder Clark