Hello!

Chuuuso, it has been a wild week! Sounds like it was a wild one back home too, with Dave working a 16 hour shift (sweet) and Mom taking a hard fall.

First off, changes were this past Wednesday and I was changed to Juan Diaz, Panamá City! I´m in the city!!!! I live in an apartment!! I ride the MetroBus every day!! Everything is modern!! It´s sooo sweet. It´s like New York City, but Spanish! I really really like it here so far. My new comp. is Elder Ramos, from Celaya, Mexico. He is a sweet dude. He came to the mission with Elder Rich, so he´s got about 15 months in the mission now. Something cool about him? He played professional soccer in Mexico before the mission! So he´s pretty much a sick baller with his feet.

The only bad thing about this new place is supposedly we have a really hard area. It´s been a ¨dead¨ area for about a year or more now, and I think it´s gonna be really tough to get things goin´ again. Of course though, if we´ll just be obedient, work hard, fast, and pray, things will work out! If we are prepared to teach and bring pple to Christ, He will more than willingly put prepared pple in front of us, and help us find those who are ready for baptism. I´m super excited to see what´s up ahead. For now, I´m trying real hard to learn the new area and all the new members and such. It´s kinda like I started my mission all over again. Not really though - now I can actually speak spanish, and have the confidence that The Lord is with me in whatever I do and say (as long as I´m living worthily). Tomorrow we have our first district meeting with the new zone - I´m excited. Elder Ramos told me I´m the only gringo in the whole district!! Sweeeet. Looks like I´m gonna learn how to play soccer on p-days, whether I like it or not. Haha.

I just wanna share real quick, these past few days as I´ve been getting to know the new members, it has been SUCH a testimony-builder to me about the truthfulness of prepared saints. Everytime I enter a new member´s house, I ask how they were introduced to the church (almost everyone here in Panamá is a convert because the church is so new), or how they came to know to be baptized. Their stories are INCREDIBLE! Really! Ah, I wish I had time to write all their amazing stories, but just know it´s really awesome. It has inspired me to work harder so that I can enjoy and see those same kind of miracles here in my mission! Hno. Perez and Hno. Marín especially are so great - probly my early favorite members here in the ward. I just know they were prepared in the pre-mortal world to come and help the church grow here in Panamá. They are wonderful men.

Lastly, I just wanna say Jesus The Christ by James Talmage is incredible. The Church could pronounce that book scripture and I wouldn´t have a problem with it.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!! Keep praying and reading the scriptures every day. The basics that help you to qualify for a testimony.

With much love,

-Elder Clarke

The last few days 7/9/12

Family!

First off, Happy 4th of July! I hope you got my pic. I drew an american flag and let it fly on Wednesday :) I hope you all had a great holiday. Obviously, living in a different country has made me all the more grateful to live in the U.S.A. What a blessing. When I think of the 4th, I think of hot dogs and hamburgers and soda at Grandma and Grandpa´s house. If you were wondering, I also celebrated the holiday this week by having my first dream in spanish!!! Super sweet.

Anyway, this week has been a toughie. I had two different days of divisiones with Elder Jensen (he is the bomb), so my comp. and I weren´t able to hone in on our area like usual. Also, in a very odd chain of events, Melánia moved to Colón this past week with her family.... there goes our best investigador :( They didn´t have enough money to pay their rent (algo asi), and had to move back to Colón where they have a sure house. It all surfaced in the span of a few days and they are gone! The good news though, is that we called her there and she has already found the missionaries there (Elder Mendez from Puerto Rico is one of them - lucky guy) and is planning to get baptized there in Colón! So it´s all good :) I kinda wanna get transferred to Colón now....haha. Other than that, the mission work has been kinda slow and it makes me sad we haven´t had a baptism this change. When I get to my new area, I just wanna go nuts and contact every door! I will be leaving on Wednesday morning to my new area... I´ll letcha know how it is next week! We had a few investigadores at church yesterday though, and even revisited Vielka Lou! It´s been a while since we have been by their house. Of course I see Carlos more often, but I truly love seeing that whole family.

Speaking of that man, Mom, you truly went above and beyond with the package :) Wow!! Thank you! I recieved it this week, and already gave the shirt to Carlos. He loved it :) I also gave the aceitero to the ward member, and Elder Huallanca. Elder Huallanca was so grateful! He wears it every day. He loves our whole family, and wants to come to Utah someday. Also, let it be known that he´s in love with Katie. He loves her red hair and always looks at our family picture. Hahah :)

So I had a super sweet study about Alma 5 this week. Alma 5:27 - if you died right now, could you say you have been sufficiently humble? Alma taught me in that chapter, that as a missionary, I must be more bold in everything I do, and I need to put emphasis on the doctrine of Christ as I teach and preach. I am just trying to better myself every day here and trying to be an example - a representante of Christ - to all. I consider it an honor to serve a mission, and I´m trying to improve myself every day here. Like I mentioned a few times ago (?), we can only become who we want to be through the ENABLING power of The Atonement of Christ.

I hope you all have a great week, and Adam and Scotty, I love you!

-Elder Clarke

P.S.... tell Nick Clark congrats for me!! Tahiti! Fetch! I sure hope they speak Spanish there...
.

P.S.S.... Mom, I eat Reeses every day for breakfast now. Ohhh how I have missed them.

Mann!!!

Family! Ah man I just love you so much. I know I´ve said this before but I love Monday just to hear what you guys are up to. Dad, I loved your letter this week. Every time I read your letters I just picture you saying it all in person, like we´re having a conversation :) You´ve got some serious ´voice´ in your writing. It makes me miss you a lot. Also, Mom, Katie, your letters were great as well - loved the quote by Maxwell, Mom. Thanks for your spiritual thoughts. Congrats to Scotty for completing his first scout camp and Dave for getting another job! Way to go, bros.

Well, this week has been crazy! They are starting to pass faster and faster. I take it as a sign that I was putting my thoughts into the work better this week. The suggestions have really helped as of late with saying silent prayers, singing hymns in the street, and memorizing scriptures. Thanks Mom and Dad - you´ve both counseled me to do that before and the silent prayers especially have helped me as of late. Also, Elder Huallanca taught me `The Army of Helaman` song in spanish! That is one of my very favorite songs ever and I love singing the spanish version now.

Allright, big news with Melánia! She is doing the marriage exams THIS week with her husband, and they should be married and baptized not this weekend, but the following weekend. The sad part about that is that I won´t be here..... :( But hey! It´s ok. I know I will see them again someday and we´ll talk then. I have LOVED teaching her though - her and her husband have overcome so many trials during this process... I haven´t mentioned any of them previously because I didn´t know if the baptism would fall through, but nope! We have seen the hand of The Lord help them overcome not having a job and their car breaking down, almost being forced out of their home because they had no money, and ya. Lots more. Someday I will explain the beauty of it all. Hopefully they can get sealed in a year before the end of my mission so I could assist their sealing in the temple. That would be raaaad :) I have absolutely loved teaching this lady - you wanna know what? She just finished the Book of Mormon. She read it the entire thing is less than a month! Chuso... every time we go to visit her she´s in a new book. My favorite part of this whole process has been seeing the Book of Mormon literally change her life around - 360.

Oh! Speaking of the Book of Mormon. We taught a SUPER sweet lesson about The Book of Mormon to a wonderful lady named Vanessa this week. At the beginning of the lesson, she told us she tried reading the BOM but didn´t understand it. So, we explained a little bit of the background of the book, and read the first 3 chapters together. Man, there is nothing better than being a missionary when you get to teach pple the truths and they actually want to hear them! Talking about the BOM, for example, is so fun! It has changed the world, and when someone asks about it, I get to explain the world-changing power that it has! I dunno if that made a whole ton of sense, but ya.

This week not a whole ton of exciting stuff happened, but it´s all part of the mission work. You´ll have some less-progressive weeks. Of all the investigadors we now have besides Melánia, number 1 is probly Kevins. Just last night, we had a member of the bishopric - Hno. Rojas - accompy us to visit his parents. They still don´t wanna budge - it´s understandable. It was a very long lesson and can´t say it was very productive. But oh well. Kevins is a very good kid and I know The Lord has a plan for him. If not now, somewhere later down the road, he will be baptized. A little bit about Hno. Rojas though - the guy really impressed me last night. I didn´t know him very well before, but he is so knowlegeable! And so experienced in the church. I think he knows The Church here in Panama better than just about anyone. He was one of the pioneers of the church here, and he´s seen the growth here from when The Church first started here! He actually reminds me a lot of Dad. He has a lot of the same characteristics as Dad, and even kind of looks like him! Panamanien version. Idk if you remember the picture of when Melany and Elísa were baptized, but he was that man in the photo - he baptized one of the girls. Anyway, he told Elder Huallanca and I something last night that I LOVED. You ready? `Dios nunca va a bajar y darnos cosas si él ve que podemos hacerlo por nosotros mismos`. Translation: `God will never come down and give us things if he sees that we can do them ourselves`. Wow! Right? It´s a really simple concept, but rang really true to me. God will never give us anything or do anything for us that he already sees we can do for ourselves. I just thought I´d share that little quote - I loved it.

Anyway, that´s enough for this week, I will write more next week. I´m excited to head into my last full week of being here in La Chorrera!

-Elder Clarke

P.S... Mom, thank you for remembering, recording, and giving to me some of the blessings from my missionary setting-apart blessing. I read it often and it helps me a ton!

P.S.S..... last quote: `Do you want to know the truth of the holy scriptures? Do you wish to break the barriers that seperate mortals from the knowledge of eternal verities? Do you wish to know - really know - the truth? Then follow Moroni´s counsel and you will surely find what you seek. Be sincere. Study. Ponder. Pray sincerely, having faith.` -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Another tough but good week

Family!!

            How are you all? I love you all so much and hope you´re doing well. I apologize for the letter a day late, but it´s because we went to the Temple!!!! So our P-Day got switched to today instead. Oh and man, did I need to go to the temple. It is such a beautiful place. I couldn´t help but feel the Spirit this morning as I walked up the staircase. The temple always helps me just take a step back and remember this great Plan that we´re a part of. It doesn´t matter what kind of trial I´m having, or how I feel - it doesn´t matter if I´m currently on a spiritual high or really down deep in the dumps.... He always loves me. And I always can feel that love at the Temple. It came just at the right time, and it was great morning.

           So this week blew by! It was another difficult week as far as investigators go, but there were some very rewarding moments as well. One of the best this week was our service project for Shaíd!! Dang!! Mom said you guys got those pictures from the ward so that´s great. It was such a great morning (Sat. morning)! Me, Elder Huallanca, and four other elders from the Elders Quorum helped build Shaíd a ramp for his wheelchair, so that he can get in and out of his house with this ugly rainy season. Most importantly, it will help him be able to come to church. The ramp is beautiful.... we did a pretty good job, if I don't say so myself. Shaíd was soo pleased!! One big smile, that man had. He used it the following day, and now he´s able to go to and from much easier. Such a worthwhile project :) I got sooo dirty though! I don´t know if my AF bball shirt will ever be the same... haha. My legs were sore for a few days, but man. Good good morning. It was great to get some of the other Elders there and involved too, so they can all be better friends at church.

             This past week we also had capacitationes (I think that means fireside in english) with President and his assistants. We learned all about how to become a better teacher from the assistants - It reminded me of how much I don´t know still... but that´s ok :) One of these days, I´ll arrive to be an amazing teacher. President gave us an IN-DEPTH lesson on The Apostasy..... I mean, really in-depth. It was really wonderful. Pres. is such an amazing guy. And he knows so much!! I know he truly was called by revelation.. the things he does here in Panamá on a daily basis for us missionaries... it´s incredible. Speaking of the man, he also came to our ward Sunday afternoon and spoke to all the youth about missions and missionary work. Got some youth pumped :) We helped him in the talk recite D&C section 4, and well as our missionary purpose. It was fun.

             Allright, so we´ve had a lot of progression lately with one of our investigators. His name is Kevins. 15 almost 16 years old, and has been assisting the chapel now for a few months with his buddy, Herman Rojas - he´s a priest in our ward. We've taught him a lot, and he´s learned a whole ton in the church. The only problem now is.... his Mom won´t let him get baptized. :( She says she wants him to wait till he´s 18 to make a choice. Mann... but we´re gonna keep talking to her, and we currently have Herman´s dad trying to help her as well. We invited her to church, but she won´t come :( It is discouraging. We could baptize him this upcoming Sat. if his Mom will just give him permission, but all in good time. The important thing is that his testimony is growing and he wants to get baptized. So whether it´s with us, or in a coulple years when he´s old enough, doesn´t matter. All in good time :)

             Ok so I said I was gonna share a cool experience this week..... it actually happened last week. But we started talking to a man in the street near the church. He told us he was on his way to go buy some drugs, and we were like "hey, we´ve got a better idea.... how bout you come talk to us about Christ at the church?" haha. So, we proceeded to go into a classroom in the church building, and shared with him the Plan of Salvation. He really enjoyed the lesson, but we have only been able to meet with him one time since then. Anyway, the spiritual part for me was when I shared with him the scripture Moses 1:39...ah man!! I can´t explain it, but like I said before, I just felt so much of Christ´s love for us in that moment! I almost cried! It was so wonderful. I don´t know if he felt what I did, but it really helped me and reminded me just how much Christ really does love and care for each of us.
Alright, our best investigator is still Melánia :) She is doing good. We had a brief setback during the week because her husband was telling her he doens´t want to get married anymore... but we think the problem has been solved. Elder Huallanca and I proceeded forth with the papers anyway, with the faith things would work out. When we took the papers to Melánia a few days later, she showed them to her husband that night and apparently things are going better now. I wish it wasn´t so hard to talk with him face-to-face. Things are looking like the marriage will just be a couple days before the 7th of July. Recently, Melánia´s ten year old daughter has started to join the lessons with us and has expressed to her Mom she wants to get baptized with her!! Yes!! It´s ALWAYS better to baptize someone with a family member - they´ve got constant support! So things are looking up with that :)
That is pretty much all the positive stuff that´s gone on this week here in Chorrera. Good solid week. Hoping that this week goes even better though. I´d like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mr. Stud #1, Dave! 18 years old. You sick man. Mom told me you´re workin like a work horse. Keep it up my man - can´t wait to get your letter :) Everyone have a good week! I love you dearly!

P.S.... Oh! I almost forgot! I wanted to tell you guys that a couple weeks ago I was able to watch "On The Lord´s Errand, Thomas S. Monson". Holy cow!!! It helped strengthen my testimony so much of our latter-day prophet! If you haven´t seen it, please watch it.

Feliz Dia, Papá!

Hey fam! I love you all so much and I've been thinkin' of you! I look forward to every Monday just to hear about you all! I love you so much!!! It sounds like everyone had a really good week. New cell phones, YW overnighter, Father´s and Son´s, and basketball camps!! Special shout-out to the man of the week..... Papá!! Dad, Happy Father's Day :) I want you to know you're still the best, and you´re still my hero. If if weren't for you, I wouldn´t be here. And it´s definately such a blessing to be here as a missionary. Dad, I owe you everything. Thanks again. We had an activity for father´s day here in the Ward and I thought about you a lot.

Ok, so I had an awesome week!!! Super awesome week. First off, I wanna share a quote that helped me a lot this week. Elder Rich had previously recommended me a talk to read, but I didn´t read it until this week. And dang! What a mistake. Everyone needs to read this talk. Entitled ´The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality´ by David A. Bednar, he had the following quote. ¨... pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances, rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed.¨ That is exactly what I did this week, and it helped like you wouldn´t believe. The talk was about the two functions of The Atonement - the redeeming power, and the ENABLING power - the second power that is not nearly as much utilized. Awesome awesome talk.

 

 

Another cool thing I did this week. I have been trying to stick closer to The Spirit as of late, so that I can follow it's promptings without difficulty or question. So, one thing I did to help with me that is I chose one hymn for every day of the week to sing. So, when we´re walking in the calle, or we have to travel a lot, I pull out my little hymn book, sing the hymn of the day, and sometimes even try to memorize those hymns in Spanish. I think my favorite day is Thursday - I´m Trying to be like Jesus. That's exactly what I'm trying to do out here! Be a representative of Him. It brings me a lot of comfort, and refocuses my mind on my purpose here. So, one of these Thursdays, if you get bored, sing I´m Trying to be like Jesus. It´s awesome.
Allright so this week was an awesome one. Lots of working, not a whole ton of success, but I felt pretty good at the end of the week. First off, I went on divisiones with Elder Oliva - de Honduras. He was Elder Paskett´s trainer! (and yes mom, I´ve seen him here a few times in the mission. He seems to be doing great now). But ok, dang. Elder Oliva? Chuuuso. Que prity, ese mann. This is his first change as a zone leader, and he is magnifico!! I want him to be AP. He is such an awesome missionary, and really taught me quite a lot in one day. Also, things are going well with Melánia :) She wasn´t able to come to church yesterday, because she was sick! Darn it :( But none the less, still progressing quite a lot. She's already read so much of the BOM!! I greatly appreciate the prayers for her, really. Oh how I hope that their marriage papers are processed before I leave the area - I´d love to see her baptism. We might just baptize her 10 year old daughter too that same day - she´s been coming to church with her Mom :)

Ok, so we got another fecha this week!! Hermelinda. She's awesome! A 50-year old lady but her sister is a member. So it's perfect! Anyone we can help receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost is awesome. Her baptism date is set for after I leave the area, but it's allgood! A very wise man once told me, ¨There is no limit to the success you can have if you don't care who receives the credit¨.
I really wish I could write more, but I'm all out of time! I didn't even have time to upload pictures... sorry. I will write more next week about a really cool experience I had this week. I love you all so much!! Have a great week and keep being righteous!

-Elder Clarke

P.S.... I think I´m starting to consider naming my boys after prophets... Abinadi, Enos, and Nephi Clarke. I just got done reading about Abinadi.... fetch that man. What a stud. Just tears those wicked priests to shreads with his words.

What a week!

Hoooola amigitos!

Dang..... this week has been a super crazy one. I´m not going to lie..... the mission is tough, and this week was especially real hard for me. It´s crazy how much and how fast your emotions change out here. You can go from cloud 9 to rock bottom in a day - hours even, sometimes. It´s a definate roller-coaster. Such a learning experience though, that´s what I love about it. I learn something every day.

So the past few days, Elder Huallanca and I have REALLY kicked it into high gear - worked real hard. Yesterday after church, we contacted for 5 1/2 hours and taught 10 lessons!!! Fetch... it was nuts. We´ve got some good return appointments to show for it though. We taught 40 lessons this week in all! That was our goal, and we had to work hard to get it.

Allright.... best news of the day? Melánia, if you remember she came to church last week, assisted church with us yesterday too!! And wow how she has progressed in one week. We met with her varios veces this week, and wait for it....... accepted a baptisimal date!!! YES!! The 7th of July :) We had a very special lesson with her a couple days ago and she spilled her guts to us. When we left her with 3rd Nephi 11 to read the previous appointment, we came back and she was so excited to tell us that she read the whole chapter and more!!! She had started to read the introduction and 1st nephi all by herself!! She also read Joseph Smith´s testimony and everything! Wow how we were pleased. She continued to tell us that while reading, she recieved her answer that the book is true. Without skipping a beat, she told us that she knew it was an answer because it came from The Spirit.... feelings of ¨peace, joy, love, faith¨ (Galations 5:22) - she had read that in the folleto we left her. We couldn´t believe it!!! She is so DANG prepared!! She wants to get baptized right now, but we have to get her married. She´s about 28 (?) years old and has 4 kids. She´s been together with her husband for 12 years! So we just gotta get the paper work done and wait on the time. That´s the hard part - I really wanna see her get baptized before I leave here, but sometimes the paper work takes a reeeal long time. I´m pretty sure I´m gonna be moving to a new area the 11th of July, so we´re gonna be cutting it close. She´s so amazing though!! She even brought a daughter to church yesterday and everything. Could be the family we´ve been looking for :)

Ok another cool miracle. Last P-day, we were on a bus going to Panamá with a bunch of other missionarys to go bowling. While on the bus, Elder Huallanca and I decided to contact it and hand out folletos. It was awesome. The cool thing though? While I was talking, a sister missionary (Hermana Fannin - Krissy knows her :)) had the impression to talk to the lady sitting next to her about what I was talking about up front. The lady responded that yes, she was interested, and she´d love to hear more. Now that´s great and all, but usually when we´re on buses, it´s hard to go teach them cuz they usually live in a different area - they´re usually just referrals for other missionarys. But this lady just happened to live exactly in Hermana Fannin´s area!!! That kind of thing is very rare. So we were able to get a great investigator for Hermana Fannin out of it - hopefully something happens there. I´d be thrilled to hear if she progresses and gets baptized.

Allright well, my time is just about up here. I just wanna tell you guys that this morning in the house, we heard ¨Love at Home¨, the hymn. Everytime I hear it I think of you guys :) I love you all SO much!! I don´t know if you understand. But really, another thing about the mission is it helped me realize how much you all mean to me :) I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Love, Elder Clarke

P.S.. awesome quote: ¨Parents and youth must stand together in defense against a clever and devious adversary. We must be just as dedicated, effective, and determined in our efforts to live the gospel as he is in his efforts to destroy it - and us.¨ -Elder M. Russell Ballard

What a week!

What a week it has been!

This past Wednesday, I recieved my new comp. here in Chorrera - Elder Huallanca (why-yanka). He is from Lima, Peru!! He is so inspiring - he is a convert of only 3 years!! (kinda like how Dad went on a mission after two years) He knows SO much for being such a new convert to The Church. I think he might be my hardest working companion that I've had! He works like a real man Peruvian. The cool thing? He has only 1 more change than me in the mission, so we are both really young. Both of us have less than 10 months in the mission!! We´re gonna do a lot of growing together :)

 

Elder Clarke & Elder Huallanca in La Chorrera

The first thing we did together was decided this change we want to find a family to baptize. We fasted a couple days ago and are currently looking anxiously. I know The Lord will help us find one if we are obedient and work hard. Another thing - remember Diogene y Tatiana? They are awesome!! We have since taught two lessons to them, and Diogene is especially positive and is loving the lessons. The problem? They´re not married.... that seems to be the problem with everyone here. Since fasting, we have found another great couple, but they are not married either :( The good thing is Melánia (the wife) came to church!! She stayed for all 3 hours and seemed to love it! If we can get her married and get her husband coming to church, we might strike gold. They have 4 kids!! :) Families are SO important in this gospel, we want to focus everything we´ve got in finding a family so that someday they can live eternally forever, and also short-term to strengthen our ward that is lacking families.

Something really awesome. Shaíd hasn't been able to come to church as of late because it's really hard for him to leave his house - there is a big hill and it's hard for him in his wheelchair. So.... we contacted the ward mission leader, and a couple of elders in the ward, and we've decided to have a service project and build him a ramp out of his house!!! As soon as we solidify where the funds are going to come from, we'll organize it. With Elder Huallanca, my spanish has sky-rocketed in the past few days, and because of that, I'm also gaining a ton of trust with the ward leaders that I didn't have before because my spanish was lacking.

Other than that, there haven't been many highlights this week cuz we only had a half-week. I also said good-bye to Elder Hill on Wednesday and he should be back in Utah by now-- I love that dude and I wish him luck :)  (and saw Elder Rich at changes - he is so awesome! It was a happy reunion :)).  Elder Huallanca and I have just done a lot of contacting and not really much else quite yet. But be expecting great things from us in the near future. On Sunday night, I felt The Spirit so so strong just as we walked to our dinner appointment. I felt as if The Lord was telling me I had done a good job the past couple days - Elder Huallanca and I working so hard. It was such an amazing feeling of joy - it definately inspired me to continue to work hard so I can feel that Spirit more often.

Well, my time is up but I just wanna congratulate Dave on graduating!!! It's a great feeling, isn't it? I love you all and wish you a great week!!!

-Elder Clarke