I Love Your Sheep!

Heya!

Did I leave you in suspense?

Do you want to know where I am?

Well, we got our transfer calls Last Sunday night. Hermana Ferrell and I knew we were going to train, we were just waiting to see who would stay in Del Valle and who would go to some unknown terrain.

So the Elder calls.

"Hermana Ferrell will be staying in Del Valle. Hermana Clark will be in...Casas Grandes 2."

You know where Casas Grandes 2 is?

THE PUEBLO!

I'm back in the Pueblo! Let me tell you, I missed this place. I love it here.

And my companion is Hermana Acosta! She's from Mexico City, and she's super chill! We're having a great time here. :)

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Frío- cold. As in "It is getting cold here. Yes, it does get cold in Chihuaha, Mexico."

Nevar/Nieve- to snow/snow. As in, "People are saying it might snow this week."

Coro- Choir. As in, "The Colonia Juarez stake is having a cool choir concert for Christmas, and they invited all musically-inclined missionaries serving here to participate. I love it!"

La Palabra de Sabiduría- The Word of Wisdom. As in, "The Word of Wisdom is a commandment that tells us how to take care of our bodies. We should not partake of substances that will harm our bodies, such as Alcohol, Coffee, Tea, Tobacco, Drugs, or whatever food we know will do us harm. Our Heavenly Father blessed us with bodies, and we should take care of them. When we keep this commandment, we enjoy greater health, and we are in a physical state that helps us gain greater wisdom."

When we got to Casas Grandes on Tuesday evening, a member from Colonia Juarez called us and told us that she had a friend in the Pueblo who wanted us to teach him. So we met him on Thursday. He's 20 and ready to change his life.

We also got to see the awesome new member who got baptized when I was here in October! She's doing great! It was so good to visit her. Her testimony of the Book of Mormon is still going strong, and she's learning more every day. :)

We set a baptismal date with this sweet woman who Hermana Hernandez and I started teaching a couple months ago. She is fantastic. She has such a strong desire to follow the Savior's example and grow closer to her Heavenly Father. My new companion invited her to be baptized, and it was such a sweet experience.

We also visited the family of 5 that we started teaching a couple months ago. They're also preparing to be baptized. They ask some pretty good questions. Preparing to teach them has taught me a lot.

It was a good week, running around, trying not to get lost...

Oh! Here's a story.

So when I was here before, there was this certain house we would always pass by that had some sheep outside. I love sheep. This week, we passed by the house, and the owner was outside! He said, "Hola, Hermanas!" We started talking to him, and he said he'd seen us pass by a lot, but he'd never talked to missionaries before. He invited us to visit him and his family this week. I also got to tell him that I love his sheep. :)

There's what I have for you this week...

I'm here, happy in the Pueblo, stressing out about being Senior Companion and Trainer, but moving forward every second. Thank you for your prayers and support. I am so grateful for all of you.

Have a great week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

What an Announcement.

So last Monday the other companionship of Sisters who were living in our house moved to another house while we were writing home and buying groceries.

When we walked in the door, we were just in the middle of saying how sad we were that they wouldn't be living with us anymore, when we saw some exciting stuff on our desks.

 

​Packages and letters!! :)

We weren't so sad anymore. Thank you everyone who sent me packages and letters! It brightens a missionary's week to receive this kind of love :)

That wasn't the only significant event of the week though.

It was about 9:25 on Tuesday night when our District Leader called us.

Now, at 9:25 we are still all planning. The Elder usually calls after 9:30. So we knew something was up. I happened to be the one who answered, and he said, "Hermana, I have an announcement. You and your companion will both be training starting next week. You need to be in the mission office at 3:30 tomorrow for a trainer's training meeting."

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Entrenador(a)- Trainer. As in, "When a new missionary arrives in the field, their first companion is their trainer. The trainer Has 12 weeks to teach them how to do stuff well enough to train another missionary afterward, if needed."

Compañer(o/a) Mayor- Senior Companion. As in, "In each companionship of missionaries, one of the missionaries is assigned as the senior companion, and has certain responsibilities that their companion doesn't have. I've never been the senior companion. But here I go."

Extrañar- to miss. As in "I will miss Hermana Ferrell greatly! This month serving together has been fantastic, and she's taught me a lot."

Escrituras- Scriptures. As in, "The scriptures are the word of God given through His prophets. Although they are old and sometimes it seems like we can't relate to them, they were written for our day. God inspired His prophets to write the scriptures, knowing exactly what we would need in these days. We should search the scriptures daily to find the guidance that we need in our lives."

One investigator story.

We're teaching this woman who is a teacher and has one young daughter. We met her in the street and she invited us to visit her because she was surprised and delighted that we would just smile and start talking to her in the street. Not many people do that. We had given her a Book of Mormon last week and invited her to read the Introduction found in the front. When we got there, we asked what she had learned from the reading we left her. It was pretty fantastic. She began to explain to us exactly what the Book of Mormon is- the records written by ancient prophets who lived on the American continent and testified of Christ. She then began to explain that she was pretty sure Joseph Smith, who translated the records, was also a prophet, and it impressed her how recently he lived in comparison to the Prophets in ancient scripture. She loved it and wanted to hear more.

It's pretty fantastic to see someone learn from the scriptures like that. It's a testimony of our purpose as missionaries. We aren't here to tell everyone all the doctrine we believe in. We are guides to help people find answers to the questions of the soul by studying the scriptures and praying to ask their Heavenly Father if the things they learned are true. We don't just talk to people and expect them to believe us. The only way we can learn the truth of all things is from our Heavenly Father.

So, I won't know who my companion is until tomorrow when I meet her. I only know what area I'll be training her in. 

I'll tell you all about it next week :)

Sorry for the short email. It's one of those zone conference Monday's again.

Thank you for all your support! I hope everyone's week is fabulous!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

 

​

​Happy Halloween a week late!! :)​

He Answers!

Hey!!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! We spent ours walking around... People definitely celebrate it here. There were so many trick-or-treaters, it was crazy. They don't say "trick or treat," though. They stand outside the house and yell "¡Queremos Halloween!" repeatedly until the people open the door and give them candy. "Queremos Halloween" means "we want Halloween." A lot of people just set up outside their house with a table of candy though. (It's obviously not as cold here right now as it probably is in Colorado.)

Some people asked about the Day of the Dead. Sorry to disappoint, but I didn't visit any cemeteries yesterday or today, so you'll probably find better information about it on the internet than from me. I know that people paint their children's faces like skeletons, make altars where they put the food that their family members who have passed on liked to eat during their lives, and clean the gravestones and put flowers on them.

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

This week's Spanish lesson is a special edition called, "What the American missionaries say when they switch from Spanish to English and what they were actually trying to say."

1. "She's progressing really well. She assists to the church all the Sunday's."

That would be "She attends church every Sunday."

2. "That member always gives us good references."

Or maybe "That member always gives us good referrals."

3. "Has she been completing with her compromises? I can't find her register in the carpet."

Translation: "Has she been following through with her commitments? I can't find her teaching record in the area book."

It's a sad thing that happens to our English...but it makes us laugh when the words come out of our mouth that way. :)

So remember that young couple we taught last week? We had a cool experience with them. We taught them one more time last week, and then on Tuesday we had an appointment to see them. That morning we were trying to plan the lesson to teach them, and we were totally blocked. We were feeling very un-inspired as to what they needed to learn. So we said a prayer to ask what we should teach them that evening. When we finished, Hermana Ferrell turned to me and said "They're not going to be able to receive us tonight." She just felt that way. So we called them and asked if we could still come by, and they said yes. They also told us that they had some questions about the Book of Mormon. So we planned a lesson.

At about 5:30 that evening, they called us to tell us they weren't going to be home and ask us if we could come by the next day. So we did, and they next day we were able to plan better how to teach them. The lesson went really well.

We also have another cool couple that we're teaching. We met the husband a few weeks ago when we passed him in the street, and we finally went to teach them on Tuesday. We talked a lot about their faith that God will answer prayers. We watched the video "Because He Lives" from Easter, and asked them how they felt watching it. She told us it gave her a lot of peace, and she thought it came from God. After talking some more about our message, he asked us how we recognize answers to our prayers. We told him that one way we recognize them is from feelings of peace, and he got super excited, turned to his wife and said "Oh! Like you felt a few minutes ago!" It's fun to see people learn and understand. :)

Remember that our Heavenly Father is the most reliable source to find the truth. When we share this message, we don't want the people we teach just to believe us. We invite everybody to pray and ask their Heavenly Father if the things we teach are true. He is the only one who can teach us perfectly.

Have a lovely week everyone! Eat lots of candy :)

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

 

 

​This is Rufus. We teach him sometimes for practice.​ He's a mandarin orange.

That was Fast

Hola :)

I hope you all had a lovely week! We had a fun one.

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Granizo- hail. As in "There has been quite a bit of hail here this week. I felt very at home."

Claro- clearly. As in "Oh, Hermana Clark. How clearly you speak Spanish! I never would have thought I was talking to an American!" That's a nice thing to hear over the phone from a native Spanish speaker :)

Pasar- Pass. Also pass by. As in "We passed by their house and taught them a lesson." My brother pointed out that I've been using the phrase "pass by" a lot when in English we typically say "drop by" or even just "go to" their house. But in Spanish, we say pass by.

Contestar/respuesta- To answer/an answer. As in "Our Heavenly Father wants to and always will answer our prayers. The answers may not come in the way we expect or in the timing we expect, but they will come."

Speaking of hail and answers to prayers, I have an awesome story.

Tuesday we left one neighborhood and headed out to wait for the bus so we could go to a neighborhood a little far away. It started raining, so we went and stood against this taco shop that had a bit of a roof over the edge. A few minutes later, it started hailing. It was just a little bit bigger than pea-sized hail, so we crouched down under the little ledge/counter thing to guard our heads. Then it picked up a lot and the parking lot started flooding. We were just kind of laughing because we were crouching under a taco cart in a hail storm. But then I had the thought that we should say a prayer. So we said a short simple prayer asking for a way to get to a safer place without getting hurt. We said amen, and about 3 seconds later, the hail stopped and the rain let up significantly. We just looked at each other and said "NO WAY." And we ran to the nearest convenience store just in time for the storm to pick up again for a few more minutes before we could walk home.

There's an immediate answer. Answers to our prayers are not always immediate, and they are not always the answer we expected. 

Wednesday we had planned for a member of the ward to come with us to a lesson with a certain investigator. Last minute, the investigator called and said she wasn't going to get home in time for us to come. We didn't want to cancel on the member, so we thought of a young couple we had met recently and called them. Miraculously, they were at home and had time. That lesson was so good. The member bore such a sweet testimony of how the gospel has blessed her family, and we know that this couple needed to hear it that night.

We continue to talk to everyone we see in the streets. Tuesday morning we were walking to an appointment and passed by a man outside his house with two motorcycles. My companion stops and says "How long have you had your motorcylces?" He looked kind of confused, and she said, "I used to work in a Harley-Davidson." What? Crazy how our past experiences help us connect with people. We talked to him for a while and found out that he was wanting to learn more about the Mormons. So we're going to teach him.

We keep on working, and we have a great time doing it.

Also, my companion is super fun.

She had to fix the pipes under our laundry sink. "Missionary by day, plumber by day tambien (also)." Because in the night time, we sleep.

​She made oatmeal-jello. Yes, you read that right. And it actually tasted fantastic.

Well, thanks for your prayers and emails. I love you all :)

Have a great week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

Didn't See That One Coming

Hey!

So the story starts with Hermana Hernandez and I sitting in our house during language study, happy as clams. Our Zone Leader calls us.

Elder: "Hermanas, I have good news and I have bad news. Which would you like first?"

Hermana Hernandez: "Oh no. The bad news."

Elder: "You have special transfers. Hermana Clark will be going to Del Valle. [Details of how to make the exchange of companions]."

Hermana Hernandez: "What's the good news?"

Elder: "Jesus Christ payed for your sins."

That is good news. The other good news is that my new companion is fabulous.

But before I introduce her, I just need to express my gratitude for the 3 and a half months I had with my awesome trainer. She taught me so much. She is a fantastic missionary, and she has become one of my best friends.

Now I'm here in Del Valle (yes, it's an area in Juarez) with Hermana Ferrell!

 

​She's 5'9", she's from Wyoming, and she's just about at her halfway mark in the mission! We have fun times. We invent interesting things to eat, we speak really good Spanglish, and we laugh a lot.

We also share a house with the other Sisters who serve in this ward.

 

​Hermana Hale and Hermana Garcia! Hermana Garcia served in the same ward as me in my first area, and Hermana Hale was the first Hermana  did exchanges with. It's fun to be with them again.

This area is very different from my last one. I´m back in the city! There are way more people in the streets during the day, so we talk to a ton of people. We had 3 pretty cool experiences street-contacting this week.

One day we passed a constuction site and one of the workers was leaving. We said "Hola!" and he said "Do you two speak English?" So we found out that he grew up in Colorado (hey, I've been there before) and he prefers to speak English. He told us that he's been searching for direction and how to find God, and he found some missionaries a few months ago who didn't speak English, but he stopped meeting with them when he moved across the city. We had a great conversation with him and we´re going to bring him a Book of Mormon in English this week.

Another day we were walking toward an appointment, but we had a lot of time. A 20-something year old young man passed us and we started talking to him. We showed him the Book of Mormon and explained a bit about what it talks about. We asked if we could pass by his house another day to teach more, and he asked if we had time right then to explain more. So we went to a nearby park and explained to him more about where the Book of Mormon comes from and some of the story. He was super interested and said that he's going to read it and pray about it.

Yesterday we were walking to church and passed a 20-something year old woman. We told her that we share a message centered in Jesus Christ, and we asked her if she believes in Him. She said that she believes in God, but since there are so many churches, she doesn't know which one is right. So we asked if we can pass by to help her find an answer to her question, and she said yes. She lives outside of our area, though, so some other missionaries are going to teach her.

So we street contact a lot. A lot.

It's different than the Pueblo, but I like it. Oh, our Mission President also lives in this ward, so we see him a lot.

What did I forget...

Ah. Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Gilo dental- floss. As in, "I'm being super obedient and flossing every day.

De repente- suddenly. As in "The special transfer happened suddenly. We didn't even see it coming."

Convenio- covenant. As in "A covenant is a two-way promise with God. We promise to keep His commandments, and he promises to give us many blessings. When we make and keep covenants with our Heavenly Father, he will bless us more than we can imagine."

So those were my adventures this week. The Lord guides this work, and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

Have an awesome week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

Esto es Verdad

¡Buenos Días!

Here goes a super speedy email.

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Tripas- intestines of I-don't-know-what-animal. As in "I ate intestines of I-don't-know-what-animal this week. Yum."

Perderse- to get lost. As in "I was on exchanges for almost 2 full days this week in my area without my companion who knows everything about the area. It's a good thing we didn't get lost."

Bautismo/Bautizarse- Baptism/to get baptized. As in "Baptism is the first covenant we make with out Heavenly Father to prepare ourselves to one day return to His presence. When we are baptized, we are washed clean of all our sins, and we promise our Heavenly Father that we will keep His commandments, repent when we mess up, and press forward in faith. He promises us incredible blessings when we take this step."

Speaking of baptism, 2 of our awesome investigators aren't awesome investigators anymore.

​Now they're awesome members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

This single mom and her son got baptized on Saturday, and it was a beautiful experience!

​The couple on the right are her aunt and uncle. They invited her to church some weeks ago. The rest of her family are not members of the church, but they came to support her, and it was a special day.

(The man to the left of me is our Bishop. He's super cool, and he was also our investigator's teacher in middle school.)

She actually hurt her foot pretty bad playing volleyball the night before, so she couldn't put weight on it. She got baptized in a chair. It went smoothly though, so that was good.

The best moment of the day, though, was when she bore her testimony after the ordinance. Before she got up to speak, she told us she was super nervous and didn't know what to say. We told her to just talk about her experience learning about the gospel and how it's helped her.

She began by explaining that her aunt had invited her to church and her cousin introduced her to us. Then she started to cry, and said "I know that this church is true. I know that what the Book of Mormon says is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

It was such a sweet moment to hear her bear her simple and firm testimony of the Book of Mormon.

I just want to add my testimony to hers.

The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture. It contains the words of God given by means of His prophets. The Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we will have a closer relationship with our Heavenly Father by studying and applying the Book of Mormon than by any other book. I know that the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God because I have read it and asked my Father in Heaven if it is true, and He answered.

Everyone can and should do this. I know that if you read the Book of Mormon and pray to ask your Father in Heaven if it is true, He will answer you.

I love you all, and I am so grateful for you.

I am incredibly grateful to be here doing this work.

Our Father in Heaven loves His children. He has provided the way for us to have eternal happiness.

Have a fantastic week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

The Batty-Pueblo

Hola :)

So 2 weeks ago while we were waiting for our transfer call, I told Hermana Hernandez that if we stayed together this transfer, we could start singing Christmas hymns in the mornings.

We started singing Christmas hymns this week.

Now I find myself humming "Oh come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord" a lot. And every time she looks at me with a smile and says "Christmas!"

So that means we didn't get transfered!

We did move houses though, and that was an ordeal.

Nah, that's a bit dramatic. It just took almost an entire afternoon when we could have been proselyting. But we're nice and cozy in our new house. And we have yet to find a single bat, centipede, vinagron, or cockroach.

Although, a couple nights ago we were walking to a lesson, and there was a bat flying around above us. I said "ooh, a bat!" and my companion said, "it's the 'Batty-Pueblo!'" We laughed a lot.

Spanish lessons with Hermana Clark:

Pastel- cake. As in, "We may or may not have eaten cake in our district meeting last week to celebrate our Zone Leader's birthday."

 

 

​Meditizar- ponderize. As in "Ponderize isn't actually a word. But it's meant to be a combination of the words 'ponder' and 'memorize.' When we ponderize a scripture each week, it will give us great strength of spirit." See Elder Devin G. Durrant's talk from General Conference yesterday.

El Día de Reposo- The Sabbath Day (more directly "the day of rest"). As in, "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. When we sanctify the Sabbath Day, or dedicate our Sunday to the Lord, we receive great blessings. We receive greater spiritual and physical strength for the rest of the week. We build our testimonies and our relationships with our Heavenly Father. Above all, we show the Lord that we love Him. That is important, because He loves us."

Seriously. Our Heavenly Father loves us. He loves us so much. He loves YOU so much. So much more that you can understand. And you know what's incredible? When we dedicate our lives to Him, we can feel His love not only for us, but for His other children.

We love our investigators! And we love the members here! These people are amazing!

Several of our investigators are progressing a lot. They're building their relationships with their Father in Heaven through prayer, scripture study, and attending church. They feel the Spirit in a powerful way. It amazes me.

I hope everyone enjoyed General Conference like I did. I received answers to several questions. I even received them listening in Spanish. If you didn't have the chance to watch it all, you can watch the recordings of it at lds.org. I highly suggest it!

Well, that's what I have for now. We continue to work hard here in the Pueblo. I am so blessed to be here. Thanks for your prayers :) I hope you all have an awesome week!

¡Que les vaya bien! :)

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark