Dear Dizzie Deano Banino Papa Bearino and family,

 

I LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT THE CHILDREN READING THE BOM! but the children love the books! (Elf Quote) That is soooo good and I'm sure it is awesome because truly when a family is living the Gospel they are happier and they are blessed in so many ways including family unity! So I know that it will bless us all! And me as well! Thanks for the updates DADDY! I love to hear from you that austin killed in his soccer tournament! And yes that was my most prized goal ever... lub it!

I eat at members houses A LOT here in Staten Island... We have dinner at a members house almost every night so that is really cool! Truly I have been blessed and not blessed (take it how you will) to have everything go by really fast... I have had like possibly one or two days that have seemed really long but every week goes by faster and faster and I want time to slow down. It is crazy! All the people praying for me is probably why it is going so fast... haha I am truly blessed with this opportunity to serve a mission. I love learning the scriptures, messages, to teach by the spirit, confidence, and love. This is pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me! Sure you are right I will definitely have times where the time goes slow... but not this first transfer and I suspect that I will be staying with Elder A in Staten for this next transfer as well since he is training me so I also expect that this transfer will go by really really fast as well! Especially because I have been blessed to have a few people that have been placed in my path prepared for baptism. I was able to be involved with a baptism commit for Samaria(black lady who came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it she has been telling people that she is getting prepared for baptism and to be an every sunday church goer), D  (black lady who can't read very well but is very very humble and has been prepared for us by God. She soaks everything up and believes every word we say), and E (wife of one of the smartest people I have ever met less active who wants to get baptised to raise her kids in the Gospel and she has been deciding this for like 4 or so years now but I feel blessed to be the first missionaries to teach her) in the last little bit of time and then we also have F (awesome hilarious black kinda ghetto lady with this gout on her leg :( but she is awesome and very commited to the Gospel) and G (11 year old stud athlete with less active mother who will most likely be reactivated) who will be baptised very soon! So with them and a few other hopeful commits we have a lot of people to teach so that is realllll fun! I think members are getting excited about missionary work (the life-blood of the church) so that is really awesome and fun to be a part of as well! So everything is going well for me but not because of me. I glory in the Lord my God as Alma and his brethren did! He is the reason this work is Glorious! I know that and I am blessed to be a part of it! I don't expect that the rest of my mission will be this laid out for me but I can only hope! ;) haha

 

But I have made some of the best friends while I have been here! One of my favorite people in the whole wide world is H a Forever investigator that is probably the funniest person I have ever met and I am sooooooooo excited to visit him after my mission with you guys(hopefully we can!!!) But I have high hopes that he will be able to be baptised! Someday he will regardless of the millions of times he has said I am NOT getting baptised! haha he is closer to baptism than he thinks... but anyways he is so funny.... He is from Dominican Republic.

 

And honestly Dad... Grandpa is the best. But I believe that your humility will get you there with him. As long as you continue using the atonement you will get there. It's a promise! :) I love you sooooooooooo much! :) Thanks for being such a great example to me DAD! :)

 

So a few fun updates...

 

Anoushka made us a sweet african style dinner with cooked bananas and DELICIOUS chicken with onions she put inside of it... so good...

 

We have a family mission plan that we are giving to a select few families to do some good missionary work! Members are crucial to missionary work! so keep it up.

 

Some lady came up to us and said "what are you selling?"  and I said "eternal life in happiness do you want some?" haha I thought I was pretty clever. We got her info and her name is I and she was really nice but shes moving to Brooklyn so she committed to go to church there! Hopefully that works out!

 

There was another intense Thunderstorm so that was kinda cool!

 

Also I should be sending you a few printed out pictures hopefully today but just to get you anticipating it I'll tell you now :)

 

I am learning some spanish but I have yet to give out a spanish pass along card "puedo darle una tarjeta por favor?! Somos las missioneros de la iglesia de JesuCristo de los Santos de los ultimos dias!" Stuff like that... Hopefully one of these spanish people will take a card! :)

 

We have been really utilizing the car... we have a lot of miles because Staten Island is a big area for here...

 

We have been able to play some basketball with J but we will probably go ghetto ball it up this week in the streets with all the hoops where the net is stolen... Ya know...

 

I made a lot of fruit smoothies to keep my diet healthy this last week... at least one a day... and I have made an awesome workout program that I am following pretty well because being in a car will make me fat otherwise... especially eating at members houses...

 

I am also starting to understand people a lot better. still a language barrier though...

 

I am so happy to be a missionary and I am excited for all my wonderful brothers to have this amazing opportunity as well! However I have realized missions in different places are all sooooo different!

 

I love my mission! I love you all and wish you all the best! Send mom this letter because I don't have time to write more sorrrrrryyyy....

 

Love,

Elder Clark

 

P.S. way to go through the garage and the office! good work! Hope the house can stay that clean! That would be realllllly impressive ;) But family projects are so fun... No matter how bad my attitude ever was it is always super fun!