THE PIONEER CHILDREN GOT NOTHIN' ON US

(This post was sent on August 17, 2015)

Title: The Pioneer Children Got Nothin’ On Us

This week turned out to be very, very slow. The few appointments that we had were cancelled, save one. And so, what did we do? Walk. And walk. And walk. And walk. Probably not as much as some missionaries have experienced, but more tracking happened this week than I have yet done combined. And, even though the success we had was minimal, I felt more successful as a missionary this week than I have in quite some time. It was a good feeling! Our old mission president said that tracking is good for the soul, and I'm inclined to believe him.

We had a zone training meeting on Friday, and we did a zone breakfast beforehand. The zone leaders were trying to only do gluten-free foods (which was surprisingly easy to do) because there were a few missionaries who can't have gluten. They assigned us to bring fruit, so we made a super cute fruit salad and used a watermelon as the bowl. It was great :) The training was super great! We talked about ways we can help the members realize their potential for and help them feel that they can be successful at being member missionaries. It definitely inspired me to be a better member missionary when I get home.

I was telling Sister Stone the other day that I'm so glad for the study time that we're given in the morning. It's helped me to get in the habit of immersing myself in the scriptures, and I learn so much every morning! It's one of the coolest things.

Hopefully this week will pick up a bit, but even if it doesn't, I've got some pretty good walking shoes. Love you all!

Sister Clark

TRANSFERS

This week was pretty slow as far as the work goes. Sister Pierce did a lot of packing, and we both did a whole bunch of cleaning and visiting people in preparation for her going home and me getting a new companion.  We drove down to Rapid City Wednesday night and stopped in the Badlands, so I can officially say that I've been there. It was so cool! It felt sci-fi-y.

                                 BADLANDS...SOUTH DAKOTA

                             SISTER CLARK LOOKS LOST IN THE BADLANDS

                                 NOT ALONE AFTER ALL!

We spent the night with the Mount Rushmore sisters in their apartment, and then I sent Sister Pierce on her way on the transfer train the next morning. It was a little sad, but mostly I'm happy that she gets to see her family again. AND, she got to go to the temple right before she left, which was the first time since leaving the MTC that she was able to do that. The cool thing about Thursday was that I got to hang out with Sister Cavey all day until the transfer train came back down from Bismarck.

               SISTER CLARK'S LAST GOODBYE TO SISTER PIERCE

When it got closer to the time for the train to come, a bunch of missionaries were waiting at the church, and we all decided to play ultimate frisbee... it's hard to get into it while wearing a skirt, though; but doable :)  AND THEN, finally, at around 9:30, my new companion arrived. Her name is Sister Stone, and she's the sweetest thing! I'm training her for the next 12 weeks. She and I get along pretty well so far :)

The mission reopened the Chaimberlain area again, which is in our district, so we have more missionaries at district meetings now. I'm excited for that, because now we can have district lunches! Food is always good.

That's pretty much all of the big stuff for this week. Love you bunches!

Sister Clark

HAPPY PIONEER DAY

 

Since I don't really live in Utah or roundabout, I forgot about Pioneer Day as a real thing. Our branch president asked Sister Pierce and I to sing Faith in Every Footstep during sacrament meeting in celebration. That song was also new to me. I've never heard of it before two weeks ago.

 

We also got a new investigator this week! It was so exciting! His name is Aaron. He rides a motorcycle, which is totally awesome, and he's Baptist. Sister Pierce and I were out tracting, and on our way back to our car to go home, he came up to us and told us how much he appreciated what we do. It was quite unexpected. He asked if we could have a bible study the next day, and obviously we said "OF COURSE!"

 

We ended up having to reschedule for Saturday, though, but it all worked out! We went to see him with a member, and he had a whole bunch of questions about the Bible. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said we could come back next Saturday.

 

ALSO, since I'm sending Sister Pierce home next week (*sniffle*), we've been going to see members and investigators and such so that she can get pictures with everybody. One of the things she wanted to do before she left was to see a bison. AND GUESS WHAT. She did :) We had dinner at a member family's home who had bison, and they took us out to see them. It was really neat!

 

Have a beautiful week, everyone :)

 

Lots of love,

 Sister Clark

                                 SISTER CLARK REUNITED WITH SISTER CAVEY AND
                                 ELDER FILLMORE FROM THE MTC

THE BADLANDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA

(THIS POST WAS SENT ON JULY 20, 2015)

I've decided that mint Oreos are one of the greatest creations. Sister Pierce is a mint addict, and I'm afraid she's sucked me in.

Last Monday, we were able to go to family home evening with Sister Hansen and her daughter, Amanda. I always love when Sister Hansen teaches anything. Her testimony of the gospel is so strong! Plus, they fed us cake afterward, so that's always good.

On Tuesday, Sister Pierce and I went back to a home we had contacted last week, and we were able to meet a girl named Sarah, her mom, and her sister-in-law Kate (or Katie. My memory has become progressively worse). We found out that the sister missionaries before us had visited them a lot, that they aren't interested, but that they're super friendly.

Apparently there's a member that lives in Columbus, Nebraska who occasionally comes to Valentine to deliver frozen foods to the stores here. Every time he's in town, he takes the sister missionaries out to lunch and gives them frozen pizza. He called us on Tuesday night to ask if we were free on Wednesday, and so we ate lunch at a place called The Bunkhouse, which has really good pie, by the way. As we were talking to him, I was just amazed at how much of a missionary he his! Everything we talked about related to missionary work and the gospel. He constantly talks to the people he works with about the gospel. And the best part is, he doesn't sound like he has an angle. He just genuinely loves Christ and wants others to have a better relationship with him. I want to be just like him someday.

We had a lesson with the Honeycutt family on Thursday, and it went SO WELL! We discussed obedience and following the prophet, and they completely understood that Heavenly Father gives us commandments because he loves us and knows what's best for us. It was amazing. AND THEN, George talked to us at the end about how he's noticed a change in his wife, Brenda, ever since she joined the church, and he's noticed a change in himself as well. He knows that God has a plan for him, but he doesn't know what it is yet. I WAS SO HAPPY! He's going to do great things, I think.

On Friday, our district (of a companionship of elders and a companionship of sisters) got permission to drive down to Rapid City together to go to our zone conference. We passed through the Badlands, which I've never seen before. It was so beautiful! I should've taken pictures, probably, but I'll see them again. I just wanted to soak it all in.

  

                                       SISTER CLARK MEETS SISTER LEWIS (LEWIS & CLARK)

We finally got to meet our new mission president and his wife: President and Sister Hess. They are absolutely wonderful! The love between them is evident. They're an equal companionship for sure.

I LOVE being a missionary. It's one of the best things. The church is true!

Love,

Sister Clark

HAPPY MONDAY - AFTER INDEPENDENCE DAY

(THIS POST WAS SENT ON JULY, 6, 2015)

First of all, I thought everyone should be aware of a very important milestone that I just hit:  Sister Pierce and I made hamburgers. FROM SCRATCH. I think, at this point, I've pretty much made it in life. Except, we found out we only had hot dog buns, so we tried to shape the patties to fit. It sort of worked. But, they tasted dang good.

Sister Pierce and I went over to walk with Lisa on Wednesday evening, and there was a guy there who was prepping her house to be painted. We talked to him for a bit and found out that he served a 6-year service mission for his church in Mexico. It was so cool! And he met his wife there, which is adorable. AND, he's from Ohio! Which means that he's also a Buckeyes fan, but that's okay :) it was really cool to talk about things that were familiar. Like Amish doughnuts.

Also, we had exchanges again this past week! I led the area. Basically, Sister Pierce was in a different area and a sister came down to Valentine and I was in charge.... it made me a bit nervous because I've only been out for two months, and I've never led an area before. It turned out okay, though! And also, another milestone: I invited someone to be baptized! She didn't exactly say yes. She knows that she wants to be baptized eventually, but she has a few concerns to resolve before that happens. The point is: I was nervous, but I did it.

At the end of exchanges, Sister Pierce and I had a training meeting with our zone leaders and our sister training leader and her companion. Since I'm still in training, they talk to us each week to see how I'm progressing. Usually we would have a phone call, but since we were all meeting up to exchange back anyway, we just had a full-blown meeting. Sister Pierce and I did a role play of teaching about the Book of Mormon and extending an invitation to read it. IT WAS SO GOOD. One day I'll teach like that in real life.

Our mission president approved firework-watching on Saturday night, so long as we woke up on time the next morning. We got to go to a member's home and watch fireworks with them. I felt like I was back home again, watching fireworks with all of my cousins and plugging my ears because it was so loud.

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day. Love you all!

Sister Clark

ANOTHER WEEK IN PARADISE

Our Tuesday appointment with Lori fell through, which was lame! Since we had a member with us at the time, we decided to take her with us to stop by and see a less-active sister, Sister Shandrew, in our branch to see how she was doing. We caught her just as she was leaving. She talked with us for a while, and showed us her beautiful garden! A lot of members here grow such beautiful gardens, vegetable and flower, and it makes me want to grow one, too.. except I don't have a lot of success with plants. When I grow up I want to be able to grow a garden. But anyway, it turned out that it was the 20th anniversary of Sister Shandrew's brother's passing. I'm so glad that we got to talk to her, though! I hope we helped her feel a little better, at least.

On our way to a dinner appointment, we decided to tract in another town in our area outside of Valentine, and we got a couple of referrals from the lady who we were going to for dinner. As we were looking for those people (who we didn't find, by the way. She relied on me knowing my way around town. HA. She has too much faith in me) we ran into a Jehovah Witness named Myrtle and talked to her for a while. It was pretty cool! We left her a pass-along card with the link to the Because He Lives video (which is AMAZING, by the way). When we got home, there was a HUGE moth on our steps! There was a toad, too, but he ran away.

We were able to see Lori on Thursday! IT WAS SO AWESOME. I absolutely love her to death. The member who came with us bore her testimony, and it was pretty amazing. She doesn't think that she knows a whole lot, but her conviction about the gospel is quite inspiring. I want to be like her one day.

We have this one investigator named George who will usually only come to church if there's a missionary leaving, or if there's some sort of special occasion. He came for Father's day because his daughter, Kelsey, gave a talk (which was a great talk), and he tells us every time that he'll only stay for sacrament (which he does). One day, he'll stay :) BUT, he came this past Sunday! And there was no special occasion! He just came! I was so happy to see him. It's the little things.

  

Sister Pierce made me crepes this morning for breakfast. I swear, she's trying to make me fluffy. But I'm definitely not complaining.

Life is to be enjoyed, I think. Men are that they might have joy, after all. Sometimes I forget that, but I have reminders in little things throughout the week. Life is good.

Sister Clark

BRANDING: PART 2

I've decided to join all of the cute little grandmas of the world and take up crocheting. I really wanted to make an afghan, so I bought yarn and a crochet hook and I work on it before bed. It's very relaxing; I highly recommend it.

Last P-day, we were with the sisters in Pierre, and we all went frisbee golfing. The elders joined us. I was apprehensive at first, because I've never really enjoyed "frolfing," as they liked to call it. However, I found it to be extremely fun! It was probably very hilarious to watch Sister Pierce and I try to launch the disk and then watch it hit a tree. Every. Time. I got it down by the end though :) The whole time we were outside, apparently there are cotton fields nearby because there were little cotton fluffs that flew everywhere. It looked like it was snowing! IN JUNE! Also, the mosquitoes are huge. And everywhere.

Most of our appointments this week fell through. We went to see Lori on Tuesday, but she wasn't feeling well so we ended up talking to her sister-in-law, Michelle. We were excited because we thought she might want to sit in on Lori's lesson on Thursday, but when we got there we found out that Michelle was in the hospital. It was heartbreaking! She seems to be feeling better now, though. Fingers crossed.

Sister Pierce introduced me to the miracle of cake pops this week. I grow to love her more and more each day. We also found out that I met her cousin at EFY one year, which was crazy. It was one of those small-world moments.

We had a lesson with Rochelle and her family this week, and it was AMAZING! We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we shared the Mormon message about Stephanie Nielson (I can't remember what it's called). They were so attentive and engaged, which was really awesome. Usually they're very quiet and so I can't really gauge what they're feeling. The spirit was so strong! 

On Saturday, we were able to help a family move, which I always enjoy. They were moving out, which was sad, but I love giving service! It makes everyone happy. There were cookies, also, and that helped. President Orton and his family took Sister Pierce and I out to lunch afterward at Pizza Hut. I absolutely LOVE spending time with that family. I feel right at home. They bought Sister Pierce and I each a pizza to take home, so we have lots of pizza to eat this week. But it's good pizza, so it's okay.

Sundays are special days. I really love them. This Sunday's service was super great! One of our recently-not-recent converts gave her first talk! AND, she had just gone to the temple for the first time! IT WAS SO COOL. I always love hearing her testimony. She isn't very eloquent, but she has a way of quietly and powerfully bringing the spirit. The son of one of our members just returned from his mission, so he spoke as well. And, since it was Father's Day, I couldn't help but miss Papa Bear. 

Today, we had another branding. I can't believe they invited us back! But they did. AND, I'm almost ashamed to say it, I had fun. ACTUAL FUN. I participated in the activities. My initial apprehensions about harming baby calves were dashed. Plus, there was good food afterward :) this particular branding was a lot less stressful, though, because they only had about 40 calves to worry about instead of a few hundred. I would like to think that I was gentle, though... it would ease my conscience, anyway.

I read in Matthew 5 and 6 during the week, and I think it's the first time I've really studied the Sermon on the Mount on my own. I love learning about the Savior, and I love that I'm able to receive a better understanding of Him and His love through the scriptures. Personal revelation is a real-life thing.

Sister Clark