Success!

Hey! Hope everyone is doing well! :)

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

 

 

​Chilito con Sombrero- Little chile with a hat. As in, " I bought a little chile with a hat because independence day is this week! ¡Viva Mexico! (His name is panchito)"

 

 

​Refrigerio- refreshment. As in, "'Sisters, I just bought sushi for the refreshment, is that alright?' I'd never eaten sushi as a refreshment in a family home evening before, but it's all good. I can get used to it. They even let us take some home for dinner."

Vencer obstáculos- overcome obstacles. As in, "Every time a baptism is coming up, investigators suddenly have to face a lot of obstacles. But if the act with faith and a true desire to follow Christ's example, they can overcome the obstacles and come out stronger."

Our investigator's baptismal date is this Saturday! We're all pretty excited for him! This past week was crazy though. Something happened in his job that made him have to work crazy hours. He had to cancel 2 of our appointments. We did manage to teach him the 10 commandments, the law of chastity and the law of tithing though. He accepted it all super well and he's excited to live these commandments and receive blessings in return. Saturday he told us that he would have to work Sunday because of the situation at work. When he told us he might not be able to go to church, we got worried. By our reaction he realized that he needed to go to church to be able to follow through with his baptismal date. He said he was going to pray a ton and ask his boss for permission to take 2 hours off to go to sacrament meeting.

When sacrament meeting started, he still hadn't shown up. We were turning around ever 5 seconds to see if anyone walked in the door. We were singing the sacramental hymn when my companion jumped in her seat and elbowed me.

HE CAME!

We just started smiling and almost laughing with relief during the hymn. We couldn't sing. We were so happy! It was an answer to so many prayers!

So we're looking forward to his baptism this Saturday!

We also found a new investigator yesterday at church! There's a returned missionary in the ward whose girlfriend has attended church with him for more than a year but has never accepted the missionaries. A couple weeks ago he told us that she finally wanted to hear the lessons and prepare for baptism, but we found out that she doesn't live in our ward boundaries. We were upset, but we explained to him and his family that we can't teach people who live outside our area without permission from the mission president. They said they'd ask him for permission.

Yesterday we talked with the president, and he gave us permission! So we taught her the message of the restoration right there in the church and set another appointment during the week. She wants to get baptized this month! We're looking forward to working with her.

We saw miracles and answers to prayers this past week. We feel blessed, and we're looking forward to working hard this week!

Have a great week, everyone!

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." Alma 26:27

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

My God Hath Been My Support

Hey! Hope your week was great!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Empapado- soaked. As in, "Tuesday morning it rained a lot. We were walking to an appointment with the young women's president with our umbrellas, but our skirts were soaked because the umbrella can't protect everything. All of a sudden, a car passed by and splashed us with a ton of water. I barely got wet, but my companion got soaked from head to toe. We showed up in our appointment and the young women's president lent us skirts while she threw our skirts and sweaters in her dryer and we drank hot chocolate while we made plans to visit the less-active young women. There are some great people here."

 

 

​Lengua- tongue. As in, "People had told me that I would eat cow-tongue here, but I hadn't until last monday when we ordered tongue-quesadillas. It tastes ok, the texture is just wierd..."

Apoyo- support. As in, "My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.

Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.

And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me." 2 Nephi 4:20-24

Our investigator changed his baptismal date to be a week earlier, so we're going full speed ahead teaching him everything before his baptism. This week we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and obedience. He understood repentance super well, but he asked us, "is it too late for me to change and become pure and spotless like it says in Alma 5?" The members he lives with explained perfectly well that God doesn't expect us to be perfect right now. He expects us to try our hardest and keep getting better every day.

When we taught about baptism and confirmation, he was taking notes and trying to memorize the 3 baptismal covenants- take upon us the name of Jesus Christ, always remember him, and keep his commandments. It was great. He's so excited for his baptism, and we and the members are equally excited for him!

We're working hard, rain or sun (because there's always a lot of one or the other). We love being here and working together, which is good because we didn't have transfers this week!

Have a great week everyone!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

 

 

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​Thanks for the package, Mom! :)​

Answers

Hello! Hope everyone had an awesome week!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Maestra- teacher. As in, "I've become an English teacher! As a way to give service and find new investigators as a district, we've started giving English classes and classes for Bible study. I'm the English teacher, and my companion in learning a lot as my assistant."

 

 

​Conocer- to meet/to get to know. As in, "Meet the Mormons, the documentary that the church made about members of the church, is fantastic. We watched it with a less-active Sister this week, and it was awesome. It touched her heart and she's going to let us come teach her again!"

Redención- redemption. As in, "For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must have perished." Mosiah 15:19

I have several stories I want to tell but there isn't time for all of them. But here are a few really fast.

Our investigator who has a baptismal date is doing well! We have to change his baptismal date to a week before or after because he has to go out of town the day we planned it, but he's still excited. We taught him the Word of Wisdom on Monday and it was great. He didn't complain of justify anything. He just told us exactly what he is already living and exactly what he needs to change. He's super cool. Then on Friday he showed us some questions he's asked and answered while reading the Book of Mormon. He mentioned the scripture from Mosiah that I put in the Spanish Lesson and he said, "What does redemption mean? Is it how Christ saves us from our sins and helps us to return to our Heavenly Father?" He answered his own question pretty well.

We taught him about the Sabbath Day and he thinks it's an important commandment. He's seen the difference in his life as he's started attending church and learning about the Gospel. We love teaching him.

We went to visit a less-active member this week whose husband isn't a member. We felt like we should start visiting her and teaching her the lessons again. We asked if she's be ok with us practicing the missionary lessons with her, and she said yes. Then she told us the whole story of her husband and how he's listened to a lot of missionaries. She said that he likes everything, but he says he's never received a concrete answer. They go to church every once in a while. He goes with her a lot. She told us that she thinks us visiting her is a great idea and she feels like it will help him make a choice. We're hoping we can help them and help him find an answer.

I have to go, but I hope everyone has a great week. Watch Meet the Mormons, serve your neighbors. Smile.

¡Que les vaya muy bien!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

The Most Desirable Above All Things

Hola!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Recibo- bill. As in, "We didn't realize that the electric bill had shown up this week until a man came to shut off our electricity this morning. So we spent three hours with the mission services secretary trying to get it paid. Good thing he's a nice elder and he helped us."

 

 

​Crema de Cacahuate- peanut butter. As in, "some nice members heard that I like peanut butter and they bought me some in El Paso then gave it to me. Aren't they great?"

Autoridad General- General Authority. As in, "The worldwide leaders of the church, or general authorities often visit missions to train missionaries how to improve. This week the Area President of Mexico, Elder Paul B. Pieper, came to train us. It was fantastic!"

Since we ran around all morning trying to pay the electric bill, I'm a bit short on time. But here's a story.

Our investigator who has a baptismal date is progressing great! We went to a family home evening with him and the members he lives with last monday and talked about the Book of Mormon. The members bore beautiful testimonies about the Book of Mormon and our investigator loved it. He's loved what he's read so far and he thinks it's great that we have more scriptures to teach us the fullness of the Gospel.

We saw him again a few days later and he asked us who the Holy Spirit is. We looked at some scriptures and the members shared their experience receiving answers through the Holy Spirit. He listened to what they said and said, "So what I feel when I'm in church and when the Sisters are here and when I read the Book of Mormon is the Holy Spirit?" He said that he feels like everything is true and he's found what he's looking for. He's super excited for his baptism next month.

Hearing Elder Pieper speak was a great experience. He spoke a lot about how we have to work with the members in order to work efficiently. He reminded us of some things that the prophet told us a few years ago when he announced the the Lord was hastening His work. He told us the now is the moment that the members and the missionaries work together to hasten the Lord's work. The moment was a few years ago, but if we haven't started yet, now is also a good moment.

I was reading about when Nephi has a vision about Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/11?lang=eng) and I was thinking about how missionary work is the best because we get to share the love of God. When Nephi begins to understand the symbolism of the Tree of Life, he says:

"Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things."

And the angel who is teaching him says:

"Yea, and the most joyous to the soul."

What we share with others as members and as missionaries is seriously the best gift we can share with anyone. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have every day to do it.

Last monday the Executive Secretary called me about what day I'm going to go home. This was my reaction.

 

 

​The ice cream kind of helped with the sadness...

This week I realized how close the end of my mission is. So I'm going to work harder than ever to bless people's lives in the time I have left.

I hope everyone has a great week. I love you all and I am so grateful for your support. Keep on keepin' on!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

 

 

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​This ice cream is really good though.​

Miracle

Hey! Hope everyone had a great week!

Ours was interesting!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

 

 

​Permetrina- premetherine. As in, "Premetherine is an insecticide that you can apply in your house to prevent mosquitos and some other bugs. The mission gave us two big bottles of premetherine to fumigate our house. After spraying it on the walls of our whole two/story house (we live in the biggest house of the mission), we felt like we had done about 200 squats and lifted weights for 5 hours."

 

 

​Diluvio- flood. As in, "It doesn't rain much in Juarez, but when it rains a little, it loooks like there was a Noah's-Ark-sized flood."

Milagros- miracles. As in, "If we act with faith, we can see miracles."

So in the 4 weeks that I've been in the area, we've had a hard time finding people to teach. Because of the nature of the area, we can find people like we normally do, so it's been tough. We've fasted twice to find people, and this week we saw a great miracle!

A family of members had given us a referral a couple weeks ago, but we were able to meet him this week.

We did a family home evening with the family who gave us the referral and the investigator. He's living in their house while he looks for a house to rent in this area. We got to know him a bit and taught about the plan of salvation. He was super interested, and when we finished explaining the plan of salvation, we invited him to be baptized. Hermana Ramirez hadn't even finished the question when he said "yes! Thank you! I really want to make a change in my life and get baptized!" It was fantastic! 

We went back two days later and taught him about the Restoration. He thought it was amazing that we have a prophet in our days who leads the church under the direction and authority of Jesus Christ. We invited him to set a baptismal date next month, and he accepted!

He came to church yesterday and loved it. In our Gospel Principles class he participated as if he'd been there before and he learned fast. He was telling everyone about his baptismal date and the whole ward was excited to meet him and they're excited for him.

"Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen."

Doctrine and Covenantes 4:7

We're excited to keep working this week. We've been diligently praying and studying to know how to find the people who the Lord has prepared, and we've felt inspired to try some new things. So we're going to act with faith this week and keep praying for miracles!

Have a great week everyone!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

 

 

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​I also introduced my companion the frosty last week. :)​

Fishers of Men

Hey!!

Hope everyone's week was great.

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

estuche- case. As in, "Ok, Elder, what color of case do you want me to send you home in?" Every time the elders jokingly complain about having a grave illness the mission nurse asks them this. One of them wants an orange case, so she said she'll have to buy one and paint it orange.

Pescador- fisher. As in, "some of Christ's apostles were fishers. They were fishing one day when Christ invited them to follow Him."

Pescador de hombres- fisher of men. As in, "And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Check out these videos that we saw in Leadership Council this week. They're fabulous.

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/follow-me-and-i-will-make-you-fishers-of-men?lang=eng

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/collection/childrens-bible-videos/fishers-of-men

Also, of all the blurry pictures we took after Leadership Council, these are the best.

 

​Not everybody is in the pictures, but it was fun.

A couple stories for you.

One day last week all of our appointments cancelled on us. When we started thinking about where to go, I thought clearly of a certain less-active member who we had tried to visit but still hadn't found at home. So we went to see her. We taught her a short message about prayer and got to know her a little bit, then she tolds us that she wants our help. Her daughter is about to turn 8 and she wants us to help her get ready for baptism. She also told her that her husband isn't a member and that they struggle a lot. We asked if she thinks the Gospel would help them to have a happier family, and she said that it was exactly what she was thinking. So we set an appointment to start visiting her husband and daughter to teach them together this week. They also came to church on Sunday, which was great!

Yesterday we went to see a part-member family who we met a few weeks ago. When we went before we only met the mom, but yesterday we got to meet her kids. They're 9 and 10 years old and they are great. We taught them about prayer and they understood it better than a lot of adults. When we asked the son what prayer is, he said "a talk with God so that He will be with me when I feel alone." They're awesome and we're looking forward to helping them and their mom prepare for baptism.

Sorry that wasn't much, but I don't have a lot of time and I have to go to a zone meeting on the other side of the city, so that's all for this week.

Thank you again for all your support. I love you all!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

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​Ready to cross the city for the zone meeting.​

Exercise Faith

¡Hola, hola!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Loca- crazy. As in, "This week was one of the craziest of my mission. But we enjoyed it."

 

 

 

 

Despedida- farewell. As in, "One of my great companions, Hermana Hernandez, finished her mission this week. For health reasons she was given and honorable release and she's headed back to Honduras today. We had a farewell with President and Sister Owen yesterday for her and another great Sister who went home for health reasons too. They're both exemplary missionaries, and we miss them a lot."

Fe- faith. As in, "I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Ether 12:6.

Even though we were running all over the place with decisions and preparations all week, we still had a couple cool experiences in the proselyting time we had.

Monday after our district meeting we went to see a part-member family. The mom isn't a member, but she's always gone to church with her family and she's listened to a lot of missionaries. We went to meet them, and it was super interesting because she speaks more English than Spanish. So I taught the lesson in English. (Let me just tell you that it's bizarre for me to teach in English. Everything comes to my brain in Spanish and I have to translate it to English.) She's super cool though, and she said that she wants to get ready to get baptized soon. She has a testimony of the truthfulness of the church and she wants to prepare herself to make a covenant with God so that her family can be eternal.

We went to visit the lady who I contacted in English last week. She's great! She's super sassy and I love it. We teach her in Spanglish...she speaks Spanish super well, but she prefers English and doesn't know how to read or write Spanish. So we taught mostly in Spanish so that my companion and I could both be teaching. But she would ask questions in English if she didn't find the words in Spanish. (I feel like she speaks my true language.) Her eyes lit up when we gave her a pamphlet about the Restoration and a Book of Mormon in English. She's super excited to learn more. We taught her to pray in English and it was great.

We also visited another part-member family where the husband isn't a member. From what we had seen of him and heard from other missionaries, he wasn't all that insterested and didn't participate in lessons, he just went to church with his wife sometimes. But we taught about the Restoration and asked them how they felt about the Restoration. We were super surprised to hear him bear a powerful testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. He said he's researched and prayed a lot about it and that he feels like he really was a prophet. He's also hoping to be ready to get baptized soon.

"Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him." 1 Nephi 7:12

These two weeks have been a bit stressful, but we all grew a lot through the experience. We've learned to have faith and act upon the faith we have. Aside from the personal challenges that our companion had, Hermana Ramirez and I were getting a bit discouraged about our proselyting situation in this ward. But we fasted together to work well with the members to find people who are prepared to receive the Gospel, and yesterday we began to see results. We're hoping to have a great week and find a lot of people. We know that if we move forward with faith and work hard, we'll find them.

Have a great week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark