We got to go to the statue of liberty and ellis island yesterday and that was pretty cool! I have a lot of cool pictures to send you! hopefully i get a chance soon! My companion Elder A is great! he is a stud! we do good work together. We have things pretty good here though in staten island. I like it here a lot even though im outnumbered by a lot of different nationalities and such but thats really fun actually! New York work is so much different than my mini mission... the people i teach, the way i teach them, what we do during the day and everything is so different. oh and when you get another efy cd can you mail me a copy or something because I'd love to have them :) Traffic here is rediculous and so are the drivers... they are the worst best drivers in the world. they are good at what they do; honking, cutting people off, you know the drill :) I truly am gaining a love for the new york mission work because it took some getting used to... In the words of our past mission presidents wife "It is the most foreign mission in the world." its totally true. I can't understand half of these people because half of them either don't speak english or don't speak much! But its so fun and its really cool that I am able to look at every single one of these people as children of God! It is soooooo awesome because they are and I have a love for them and a strong desire to bring all that have been prepared to the knowledge of the Gospel and how the Atonement can fix everything that is wrong with their lives and how they have a bright future ahead if they just listen to us. With so many people... for example my companion and I are the only english missionaries on staten Island... we are basically incharge of idk exactly how many but over half a million people. With that comes a lot of work and responsibility and need to sift people like wheat to find out who really has been prepared to hear the message of the gospel. Honestly it is so fun being out here just focusing on one thing... that is inviting others to come unto christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. All I need to do is continually striving to be the best missionary I can be and my mouth will be filled. I have seen that and I know it's true. But it is definitely a process... I am not perfect but I can see where I can be in the future and it is a good sight. I am excited to continue to learn how to be simple and powerful and fearlessly declare the word of God so that the spirit can testify of truths. This is an exciting, true, fun, hard, and at times scary work but I know one thing. IT IS GODS WORK and it is directly from him. there is a reason that all 15 of the Brethren including 55 other general authorities were at the MTC the week after I left when all 130 new mission presidents were there. The Lord and his leaders are closely related to this work and they know how important it is. This is why it is so important for everyone who can go on a mission to go on a mission. The joy and the growth that occur here are more direct and substantial than any other thing that anyone in their life can possibly do. It is amazing for yourself and for those that you help bring to the knowledge of the truth. Yes it is harder than anything I have ever done but it is sooooooo much fun and the love I feel for people and God far outweighs the difficulties. If I could do things over with the knowledge I have now I would have learned how to study better for school, gotten good scripture study habits, and truly prepared myself more to not be afraid to share the great news of the gospel. It's eternal progression though and it is a blessed and amazing thing. Anyways I love you all! thanks for everything! give the family and all my friends and cousins and everyone hugs and blown kisses! Keep striving to be worthy of the spirit because that is the most important thing! Love,

Elder Clark