GOLDEN INVESTIGATORS

Hey everyone!!!!! Another week and more miracles!! Vicki and Evan are the most converted people I've ever met in my entire life. The day after they accepted to be baptized, they started planning their own baptism. That never happens, ever! They're getting baptized this Saturday, and I can't wait. They asked us to baptize and confirm them. They're already paying their tithing and coming to every hour of church. I can't wait to come back and visit them in 2 years and see how much they've grown. I'm going to try to come back in a year and go through the temple with them. We've been working a lot with helping people quit smoking. It's a huge thing here in Rock Springs, so most of the people we meet and talk to have the addiction. It's been awesome to see people gain a desire to change their lives just from the Gospel. There's no better feeling than seeing the Gospel help others and change them for the better, getting them on the straight and narrow and helping them stay there. Elder Bass and I are having a lot of fun and really enjoying this area. Things are going really well in our wards, and it seems like the member missionary work is progressing as well. We've been studying how to ask more inspired questions and teach more by the Spirit. It feels like whenever we focus on a certain thing in our teaching, we have some instance where the studying we did comes in handy. I'll be sure to take pictures of the baptism next week. Sorry that I'm so bad at taking pictures.... I just never think to take pictures, ever. I love and miss all of you so much. I keep you all in my prayers on a daily basis. I love and miss Taylor Lindsey and Ralphie the absolute most!!! :)

Love, Elder Clark

THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOR

What an amazing week it has been for Elder Bass and I. We had 7 investigators come to church this week, which is the most I've ever had in one week. We invited three of our investigators to be baptized, and they all accepted. I feel like we've had a lot of miracles just fall into our lap recently. I don't know if that's from being obedient and diligent, or just being lucky. Haha. I'm sure they are all blessings from Heavenly Father. We've been studying the Restoration a lot lately. We've made a companionship goal to teach more first lessons, so we figured we should know it like the back of our hand. We decided to come up with some questions about doctrine of the Restoration that people might have for us, so that we would be prepared if we were ever asked. Then later in the week, two people we've been teaching, Vicki and Evan, asked us one of the questions we had gone over previously that week. It was a real testimony builder of being prepared by planning and studying for things in the coming weeks. What's even cooler is that those two investigators accepted the invitation to be baptized and now we just have to set a date. :) I love when things like this happen. It's such a testament of why I'm here doing what I'm doing. It's all about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. I love it. I also went on exchanges with Elder Paige again this week. This time Elder Bass went to Manilla with Elder Paige's companion. So Elder Paige and I were here in Rock Springs and had a blast. He and I get along so well. I'm really sad that he goes home next month. We played softball and basketball with some investigators, which we really never get to do. My best friend Josh (from Nashville), and a couple other guys stopped by in Rock Springs on their road trip to see me. We went out to lunch at Cafe Rio and just talked. Josh was telling me more about the mission that he's going to be going on pretty soon. Sounds like it'll either be to Chile or Argentina. I'm really excited for him, and I know how ready he is to go. Anyways, this week has been very eventful and full of fun and excitement. Next week we're going to Salt Lake for a zone conference with Elder Clark from the 70. I'll be sure to tell everyone how that went next week. :) I love and miss you all soooo much. Thank you all for being so supportive. I love and miss Taylor Lindsey and Ralphie the most!! :)

Love, Elder Clark

A MESSAGE TO THE MEMBERS

This has been a really awesome week for Elder Bass and me. We've had some really, really solid lessons this week with a few of our investigators. The Spirit has been so strong, probably stronger than I've ever been able to recognize before. We've been studying Ether 12:27 a lot this week, and Alma 32. We've used them both a lot with our lessons and those we've been visiting. Applying the principle of humility is a lot harder than it looks. But I feel like when we do and we rely on the Lord, our lessons go SO much better. The Spirit is there so much more, and the people we are teaching respond in such better ways. A really cool miracle that we saw this week was one of our investigators that hadn't been progressing at all, finally decided to come to church. We invited her to be baptized as well, but she said she wasn't ready YET. But she knows that she should, and I think she has the desire as well. She's just scared. We're teaching an older couple named Vicki and Evan. They moved up here from Arkansas, and you all know how I love my southerners. ;) We started visiting them and helping them around their garden. Then they started asking questions about our church, and we've been teaching them ever since. They've been SO prepared for the Gospel though. They just left their church because of a bad experience and because it came out and supported homosexuality. They don't drink coffee, tea, alcohol, or smoke. Vicki's read the Book of Mormon 3 times already. She's a huge intellectual thinker, and loves to ask questions. They came to church on Sunday, and said they really enjoyed it. We had a total of 6 investigators at church this Sunday. It was awesome. Members were coming to say hi and introduce themselves to our investigators. It’s the coolest thing to see. SO!!! If you see someone you don't know, or maybe someone sitting with the missionaries, THEN GO SAY HI AND TALK TO THEM LIKE THEY ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND!!! Trust me, it makes a world of difference to them. Anyways, we're preparing 3 people for baptism right now, and they're amazing people. I love them a lot. :) We have a huge stake-wide church open house coming up on Friday and Saturday this week. The stake has put billboards up in the town, newspaper articles, and radio spots. We're going around and handing out fliers and inviting members to find people to bring. It should be a really cool thing for the stake and lighting a fire under the members for missionary work. I love and miss you all. And of course, I love and miss Taylor and Ralphie the most!! :) 

Love, Elder Clark

STAYING PUT IN WYOMING THIS TRANSFER

Well another transfer has blown by and it seems like it was all a blur. Trying to look back at the last 6 months hardly seems real. It's as if I've been doing this forever and at the same time it feels like I just got here last week. I'm staying in Wyoming for another transfer and I'm so excited. I was so scared that I was going to get moved. This has been my favorite area by far, and I have so much more to do here. Elder Bass is also staying here for another one. It's been loads of fun training a new missionary. He may do dumb things at times and act like he knows it all, but he's a good kid. He's going to make a great missionary. We had a Mission Trek last week. I had an awesome time at Mission Trek ! It was hard to leave the area for a whole day, but I think it was worth it. I tried to get as much out of it as I could. We have to sacrifice much on our missions like the pioneers sacrificed much on their treks. It's a totally different kind of sacrifice, but a sacrifice none the less. Understanding the amount of work that goes into a mission is similar to understanding how much work goes into a trek. It was cool to see those things last Tuesday. We're sad to see this transfer coming to an end, but also extremely excited to see what's in store for us. It feels like the last 5 weeks have been a blur, each one moving faster than the last. We've continued our studies on revelation and knowledge and seen the impact that it's had on our lessons. Increased spiritual prompting have been something that we've seen improve a lot. Heather, one of our investigators, is progressing extremely well and is on date to be baptized on the 23^rd of August. She's really excited about being baptized, and it's been cool to see her change from the time we first met with her to now. She's even giving up smoking. We have another couple on date to be baptized on the 23^rd of August as well. They might have to wait a little longer than that though because they have to get married. We're going to try to make it happen by then though. :) So with those 3 on date for baptism, we feel like we have several others that are really close. This is shaping up to be a great transfer!!!!! I'm so stoked!!! I love and miss you all. Thank you for your love and support that you have shown me. Every bit of it is appreciated, especially that which I get from Taylor Lindsey and Ralphie. I love and miss you the most!!! 

Love, Elder Clark