Sunday, June 23, 2013

Hi!

So its been awhile since i have emailed last... so hello again! Welcome to the written version of me. And yes you can all tease me for saying that.

On Saturday we were able to have the BBQ and it went actually relatively well! Members definitely ran on double mormon standard time so that made us a little nervous but then we filled the whole half parking lot with cars by the end! Brother Danner smoked some ribs and cooked a million burgers and hot dogs and EVERYTHING was eaten. It was all so good. A came and there were a couple nonmembers that came as well! L and 4 of his nonmember friends came and so that was awesome. We didn't get any new investigators or anything but we definitely helped create a little more unity and love within the ward and helped those nonmembers to understand that we are all brothers and sisters! It was a lot of fun though.

Then on Saturday night it was really cool because we hadn't hit like any of our goals that we had set. So at that point I said a silent prayer after pondering how to hit our Sacrament meeting attendance goal. I had the prompting to make Elder Weber a promise that I turned into a deal. That I would bet(don't judge) him a Wendys frosty that if we would wake up on-time, have a good personal study, and actually do a good companionship study that we would be able to hit our church attendance goal of 2 investigators with one new investigator at church and if we'd hit it he wouldn't have to buy me one. Well we did this and as soon as our companionship study was over... well! We got a text from leo. He said "hey I'm bringing my friend to church you better make her feel welcome" hahahaha that was a very victorious feeling! Ha that was cool that God helped us fulfil a strange promise! And then of course A came to church for the first time since I have been here! So we hit our goal. We need to go get frosty's to celebrate... Unless Dad you wanna come make us a chocolate shake ;) we wont decline :)

I think those personal commandments and promises that the spirit will tell us are so great. We neeeeeeed to follow those promptings. Eternal Perspective. Make like nike and just do it!

Also A is getting baptised on Sunday so that will be really exciting i will tell you about it next week. He is doing really well though... He is already considering a mission and he isn't even baptized yet. I think he wants to feel the spirit of a missionary because he was hanging out with 6 missionaries and he was so impressed at how we are all like brothers. But he is heading for basic training(i think...) in the military on June 2nd so that would be an interested leave.

So anyways!!!
I loooooove youuuuuu!
Love,
Elder Clark


Hi!

You guys look so good from here!

So exciting news! A was able to get baptized on sunday!!! It was a really really good experience. Especially because A's Mom and little brother came and felt the spirit there. It went really well because everyone there made them feel like family. And her mother brought baked zini, a fruit tray, and a salad for the afterparty haha it was great! I made brownies and almost burnt the brownies and my fingers at the same time! That's two things at once I told you I could multi-task mother ;) haha but they seemed like they were comfortable here. She said she was getting really emotional. With it being fathers day was really awesome as well because A's dad just passed away about 2-1/2 months ago. So I feel like he had a special part in that. After A got baptized he said "I feel amazing. I truly feel like new. Like I'm a new me and I get to start completely new." Later he randomly texted us saying "I feel soooooo good". Man it was so good to feel the spirit of the day and the spirit of the ordinance done with the priesthood authority of God.

Something I would like to say in advice is to truly listen to the words of the Sacrament as you partake of it. Remember that if you do those things, take his name upon you and always remember him then you will have the spirit to cleanse you and make you feel as A said "NEW"! Thats why the Sacrament is so important and we need to take it more like an ordinance that gives us access to the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ to purify our hearts and minds preparing us to become like our Heavenly Father, and to not take it just as something to eat on fast Sunday. I promise that if you do that this week you will find more purpose in the week to come. That you will truly change and align your will with God's will.

Anyways I gotta go but I love you all!
Have a beautiful day and week.

Love,
Elder Clark

Monday, June 3, 2013

Dearest Family...

This week has been a nice mix up... On Monday my companion Elder Weber took a 2-1/2 hour nap so i figured I'd improvise and have some fun! So I created a mini golf course out of my pad (pic 1) :) It was fun! I learned how to cook some good garlic bread with melted cheese on top at the S for the last FHE we would have with them before Brother S left for Houston! :( (pic 2). Man I'm going to miss him and then Sista S when they leave... basically mama and papa schoenbeck to me... Then on tuesday Brother Danner our amazing ward mission leader made us some delicious chili... hes famous for it... on Wednesday we met with Anthony and Novinta and he is doing really well! Still looking to get baptised on the 16th and then Thursday we finally had a member present with our lesson with A! We took brother d who we clean the church then eat at old country buffet with every thursday morning and he is such an awesome guy. He is old though so he loved to tell stories... It's a good thing we didn't have another appointment until an hour and a half after that appt because we almost missed our second one anyways haha! I'm so glad though because I think bringing him made him more comfortable to come to church. We will have to bring someone else this week though because A still didn't come... He just is always helping people so thats what he was doing again... haha hes a good guy... Then on Friday I went on a basically all day exchange with Elder Garcia (pic 3) from So-Cal who is a really awesome missionary. He got in the mission in brentwood spanish a week after I left for home and has been here since with his trainer Elder Heagren who came out with me! the whole time! thats 5 transfers! 7-1/2 Months with the same companion and in the same area... That was really fun because I got to excercise my spanish skills again! Haha I talked to a lot of spanish people and we found this AMAZING family while we were tracting... We talked to them about gospel and life for about 45 minutes while they were sitting out on their porch (typical NY) eating mr. Softees (ice cream truck that claps during the song). That was so fun! then also the spanish program gets fed... a lot... I had 2 DA's while I was on the exchange that ended at 4:30. Like full on delicious spanish meals. We also talked to this one guy who was sitting in the shade of a tree (soooooo hot outside.... Humidity is the worst...) and we gave him a card and asked him if he would give us his info so we could call him and he was looking for his phone number in his wallet and he pulled out a different mormon pass-along card that he found on the ground. he had cut out the picture of jesus into a nice framelike image and it turns out that Garcia had written that card! that was really cool and he was pretty excited that we were the original owners of that card! I think that alone really sparked his interest! Moral of the Story... Even if you think your efforts in a righteous cause in anyway go unnoticed or unsuccessful know that Heavenly Father has a bigger purpose in mind and that he will allow his purposes to happen even if it is not in the way our minds picture them. Always trust in the Lord's way! It may not be the easiest way in our perspective but it will always be the best for us. Also... take into consideration that by small and simple things great things come to pass!

On sunday the sisters had a baptism that went really well as well! The husband of the member mother of the son being baptized actually seems like he is becoming interested! He asked Elder Weber and I to come by sometime so hopefully we can help the family come together through the gospel!

One of my new favorite scriptures came to me this week as I was finding strength scriptures to put in my workout room to encourage me to workout.... I came across 2 Cor 12:9-10 "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." I believe this scripture to be the answer to life's challenges. In fact, I know that this is why we are given challenges in life. That when we humble ourselves with our own agency and truly rely on Christ by choosing his side and his ways to endure our trials, then and only then is when THE POWER OF CHRIST RESTS UPON US. Then is when we are the strongest. Because all is possible through Christ. I believe that if we learn to glory in our infirmities we will enjoy the blessings that come with eternal progression and increased perspective.

I love you all and pray that you will be able to do this throughout this week!
You are great! All Y'all!
Love,
Elder Clark

Hello Everybody!

This last week has been a lot of meetings and a lot of service. We had Elder K from the seventy come tour our mission and so we had a mega zone conference with him that was really really awesome. He gave an awesome perspective on missionary work. We just need to act on it and so many blessings will come (hmmmm sounds kinda like life right?). So much is being done to help us work smart and not just hard.

We are doing this new thing in our mission where we are being accountable for our plans and not just our goals. For example we have the goal of 1 new investigator to sacrament meeting which is based on the agency of our investigator but we are turning the focus to being accountable for our plan of how many people we invite to sacrament meeting because that is something we control.

Too often we let things get us down that we do not control whether it be our trials or results of our efforts or things that other people do or say. If we only focus on what we can control we will feel more control over our lives and the happiness we enjoy! Honestly we are just too stressed all the time. Eternal Perspective.

We did a lot of service for the M family this past week and that has been really really awesome. The husband is a less active member and for the first time since I have been here he came to church yesterday!!! I was soooooo happy to see him there! They feed us really well at their house also so that is nice. In the past week doing service I have had burgers, hot dogs, ribs, popeyes spicy chicken, NY Pizza, etc... Man so good. I love food and my pants don't love me because of it.

However! I have been able to jog a little bit and that has been so good. I missed jogging. It's funny how much I took it for granted when I felt like I could do anything under the sun. But man I'm excited to play some sports in a few months!!!

So this last week has been rough in regards to missionary work but this upcoming week should be a lot better! We are really excited for it! I just want to work hard right now. I hope that desire stays.

Anyways I love you all! Have a beautiful week! Keep on truckin through your trials because the growth of faith and strength will be worth it! Not to mention Eternal Life.

Love y'all,
Elder Tyler Clark
HELLO EVERYONE!

This week has been kinda nuts... We have been cancelled on a lot at the beginning of the week. Then we had another person walk into our church building while we were cleaning it saying that he just needed some peace. His son had just passed away from cancer. We were able to help him have a lot more comfort when we testified of the Plan of Salvation to him! It was awesome and he definitely was helped. The spirit is so great at what he does and I love it! He lives in Plainview's area though so we gave his info to other missionaries. That was really cool though especially because we had just started a change we had made to be more obedient. Then we get that person to encourage us. Tender Mercies.

Then the week really really started to go crazy... We were able to meet with A twice and he has a new baptismal date for June 16th which is good. Then on thursday we received a phone call about a less active member of our ward who passed away! Very few people knew her in the ward but the sister missionaries knew her. However the family said they wanted it to be a Mormon service because of her background in the church. Crazy as it seems nobody in our ward leadership could make it to the funeral service except one who was able to come last minute. So I was asked to conduct the funeral service. Wow. Elder Weber gave a talk and the Sisters each gave prayers and then some other members of the lady's family sang and read poems and such. That was quite a growing experience for me as you might imagine. But it was also very very touching for Elder Weber and I to be able to listen to the spirit proclaiming lovingly to these brothers and sisters about how she is taken up to that God who gave her life. We are blessed with the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. I then was able to dedicate her grave. It was really touching to see the respect that everybody had for us. Even though in the room of 100+ people at the Funeral Home we were the only members of our church. It was another testimony to me that we are all brothers and sisters. The spirit was so strong in that room. Man I just loved everybody.

So that was the craziest thing that happened to me in the last week. Abraham is actually reading what we give him to read! That is so awesome and his wife was really really impressed with us! She is the one that said if you could crack him it would take a miracle. Well miracles happen when Christ is involved in something concerning his will. :)

Something I learned this week is pretty cool. We were discussing why the heck it says we will receive fire AND the Holy Ghost in the scriptures. But we discovered that we will have fire as to our purification and then because we will be clean the Holy Ghost will come dwell with us. We need to keep the temple of our body clean in order for the Holy Ghost to dwell with us. So cool.

Anyways thats all for now! I'm happy to be done with my math class finally haha :) But I love you all and wish you the happiest of happy days!

Love,
Elder Clark