God Loves Us

Hola hola!

First off, a Happy Birthday to my Dad, my brother-in-law, and my sweet nephew who spoke Spanish to me on Mother's day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a huge thanks to all those who sent me "Happy Birthday" pictures! I couldn't open the file that my mom sent me last week, but I saw them today. Love you all!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Campaña- campaign. As in, "The county has been in campaign for county president for months, and it finally finished this week. After recounting the votes, a member of the ward won!"

Presidenta- female president. As in, "The new county president is going to be the first female president. She's cool! We also got a new relief society president on Sunday. Things are changing here in the Pueblo!"

Testimonio- testimony. As in, "A testimony is a declaration of the things we know to be true. It isn't a speech, it isn't a time to give thanks to all the people we appreciate. It is a moment to testify."

We had a good week, and I'll tell you two stories.

On Tuesday we went to an appointment with an investigator expecting to just teach her. When we got there, we saw that her husband was there and she wasn't home yet. Once she got home, we were able to teach them together with their daughter about how the Gospel blesses families and how if we make covenants with God to keep His commandments, we can have eternal families. When we asked the husband if he'd like to prepare himself to be baptized and eventually have an eternal family, he siad that he wants to learn more and that if he comes to know that it is true, he would love for his whole family to get baptized together. We're excited to keep working with them. :)

Last Sunday we were looking for a referral and we knocked on the wrong door. But it ended up being the right door, because we found a young adult there who is friends with an awesome member of the ward and told us that she'd like us to visit her.

We went to get to know her better on Thursday, and she listened to us explain a little bit of our message then said, "This is all great. I know it's good stuff because my friend is always so happy, and especially when she talks about the church. What do I have to do to get baptized?"

It was awesome to see that her friend's example bore such strong testimony that our message is one of happiness and that it blesses people and families. She's excited to keep learning and preparing herself to get baptized.

I just want to end with my testimony.

I know that God is our Heavenly Father and He loves us perfectly. He loves us so much that He sent His son Jesus Christ to pay the price of our salvation. He also loves us so much that He sends prophets to teach us The Way back to Him, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that He doesn't change, and since He has always called prophets to teach us, He calls prophets in our times. He called Joseph Smith as a prophet to be the means by which He could restore the Gospel in its fullness. Today, Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God and he teaches us the truth. Everyone can know this if they will read the Book of Mormon, ponder what it teaches, and pray to ask God if it's true. I've done it, which is why I know that it's true.

I invite everyone to try it. It will change your life for the better.

I'm going to send a few pictures from my birthday on a separate email.

Have an awesome week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

 

 

 

Hermana Ramírez and me :) All but two of the other 10 sisters here in Casas Grandes also came for ice cream to celebrate, but I don't have the picture of everyone.

 

 

​Thanks for the Birthday crowns, Mom :) It just so happens that Hermana Benitez's birthday was in May, and Hermana Blackham and Hermana Lorenzo's birthdays are in June too. So I shared :)

We have a good time in our district.

 

 

​The Sister's in my district also went with us to Tortas Parra for my birthday lunch. This is a chicken torta with mango chipotle sauce. It was delicious.
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~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

One Year Older (and Wiser Too?)

Hola :)

This week was crazy and great.

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Mudarse- to move houses. As in, "On Monday night we found out that we had top move on Tuesday morning. It's cool though, because our new house is great!" 

Lavadora- washing machine. As in, "our new house has a washing machine. It's great! And it's a Westinghouse! (only my family will understand that joke.)"

Cumpleaños- Birthday. As in, "Thanks for all of your birthday wishes! It's been a great one so far. :)"

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My family sent me an awesome package which I opened this morning. Thanks guys!

My great dad and my brother-in-law, Nate, also turn one year older and wiser too this week. 

¡Feliz Cumpleaños!

I'll have photos next week.

We had a lot of cool experiences this week, but I don't have time to tell them all...

We had a Family Home Evening last Monday and a family from the ward introduced us to their friends. We watched the video of the Restoration and they liked it a lot. After answering a few of their questions, they said that they'd love to learn more and prepare to be baptized if they come to know that our message is true.

I did exchanges with Hermana Hale this week and we went to see an investigator who is super cool. She reads the Book of Mormon a ton, and this time we found that she had just finished Mosiah 18. It's a great chapter about baptism. So we talked about the example of the people in the chapter and she loved it. She said she wants to get baptized and she'll pray about a day in July that she can prepare to be baptized.

"And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—

Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?" Mosiah 18:8-10

Love you all, thank you for blessing my life these past 20 years. I hope you all have a great week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

Continue in Prayer

Hola!

Hope everyone had a lovely week!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Arándano- cranberry. As in, "I ate cranberry ice cream this morning and it was delicious."

Llamamiento- calling. As in, "Everyone who serves in the church serves voluntarily. The positions in which we serve are called 'callings.' Callings come from God through our local leaders. One of my awesome converts accepted a calling in the young men's presidency yesterday, and it sure made me smile. :)"

Persistir- continue. As in, "Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him." Alma 34:19

I have a few stories this week.

We have a great investigator who loves the Book of Mormon and the message that we share. This week we invited her cousin, who is a member, to come with us to a lesson, but he said he wasn't going to be able to. The day of the lesson, to our surprise, he found time and showed up there. It was great to see him bear testimony of our message and hear him encourage her to prepare herself to be baptized and receive blessings like those that he has received since he was baptized.

We have another awesome investigator who loves our message, but something always seems to come up on Sundaywhen she wants to go to church. This week, 2 young women from the ward came with us to a lesson and bore testimony about obedience. We prayed a ton for this investigator to be able to come to church without obstacles this week, and.....she came! She was there! It was an answer to many prayers!

We went to a lesson with a new investigator and we had planned to teach about families and how the gospel can strengthen them. When we got there, her husband didn't want to listen to us, and she was super upset. We felt like we should teach her about the Plan of Salvation, so we did. It was exactly what she needed to hear, and it answered some important questions she had. We hope to be able to teach them both soon, but at least she is finding direction in her life through our message.

Lately in my scripture study, when I read stories about people I look for opportunities to substitute my name into the scriptures to apply them more to me. Here's one that I found that I hope we can all work to substitute our names into. Put your name where it says "Moroni" and ask yourself it it's true.

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

Let's all strive to be more like Moroni.

Have an awesome week, everyone!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

Chapulinas y Papas Locas

Hey everyone!

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Chapulín-cricket/grasshopper. As in,

 

​"I ate a cricket last Monday in a fair that came from Oaxaca! Then we convinced several missionaries in our zone to try it. It was funny."

Papas Locas- crazy potatoes. As in,

 

​"Hermana Blackham reached her halfway mark last Monday and the 4 of us Sisters from the Pueblo celebrated. I ate papas locas. They put valentina sauce, lime, soy sauce, chamoy, and possibly some other stuff on potato chips. Mm Mm Good."

Felicidad- happiness. As in, "Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness." Alma 41:10

This week we worked with the members, and it was great.

One day we took a member to a lesson and when we got there we found out that she and the investigator already knew each other. They worked together for years and they're good friends. They were chatting the whole time we were trying to teach a lesson and the member ended up inviting the investigator to the Relief Society activity the next day. She went! We saw her there in the church. It was awesome!

One day a lesson cancelled on us so we looked for a few backup plans. Then we had the idea to look for some members who we haven't been able to visit in a while. They're almost never home at that time of day, but we went and they were home. When we walked in, they said, "you heard about what happened, right?"

We had not heard anything.

They told us about the crazy things that had happened to them that week and how their experiences made them realize that they need to change the way they're living the gospel and improve.

Only the Spirit could have guided us to find them right then, because I never would have thought to go look or them.

A couple weeks ago a member told us about a friend of his who had moved to our area. He's a member, but his new wife isn't. We finally found them and got to know them yesterday, and it was great. He wants to start coming to church and participating in the ward here, and she wants to learn more about the gospel and come to church with him. It was great to find them.

We had a good week, and we're looking forward to another great one.

I hope you all have a great one too!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

He Answers Our Prayers

¡Hola, hola!

I hope everyone's week was lovely.

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Bloqueador- sunscreen. As in, "Elder, go buy some sunscreen or you're going to die." Maybe my zone leader is a bit dramatic, but it was funny.

Paraguas- umbrella. As in, "If I bring my umbrella, it won't rain. If I leave my umbrella it will rain." I think that's called Murphy's Law.

Sabiduría- wisdom. As in, "And now, my son, I have told you this that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness."

So two weeks ago, a few members from Colonia Juarez came with us to a few lessons, then one of them wanted ice cream so she took us to the ice cream shop to buy us water. While we were there she started telling the owner all about what missionaries do, and she set an appointment for us to visit him. So she came with us this past week to teach him a bit about the Book of Mormon. At first he wasn't super interested, but when we explained that the Book of Mormon helps us know why we're here on Earth and what we need to do here, he got a little more interested. We're going to go back to see him this week.

We also had a cool lesson with an investigator who we've been teaching for a while and she's never gone to church. We taught her about baptism and she understood that it is esencial. So my companion invited her to be baptized (first baptismal invitation. Woohoo!). She said that not right now, but someday. When we asked what keeps her from getting baptized if she knows that it's important, she told us that her family wouldn't support her in the decision, which is why she hasn't told them that she's listening to us. We invited her to pray about her decision to be baptized and ask her Heavenly Father for help to explain to her family and ask for their support. She was quiet for a minute (she's never quiet), then she started crying and told us a lot more about her struggles. It was so cool to see my companion listen then testify of the power of the atonement and eternal families. 

The best thing was that she finally came to church yesterday!

One last story.

We went to look for an investigator one day and found her daughter there house-sitting because her mom was out of town. She told us that her mom went to visit her grandpa because he had a problem in a surgery. She was busy with visitors, but asked us to come back later to say a prayer with her.

When we went back, we told her that instead of just saying a prayer, we wanted to teach her how. So we explained that prayer is a direct communication between us and our Heavenly Father. We taught her how and invited her to say the closing prayer. She said a sweet and sincere prayer and said, "So are you going to come again tomorrow?" Then she realized that she might be going out of town too, so we put an appointment to see her and her mom this week.

Our Heavenly Father loves us and hears our prayers.

Have faith and stay strong.

Have an awesome week!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

The Gospel Blesses Families

Hey there! :)

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Día de la madre- Mother's Day. As in, "Happy Mother's Day to my fabulous Mom and all the other awesome Moms I know! I had a great time talking to my Mom (and the rest of my family) yesterday. I hope the other missionary moms enjoyed it too :)"

Colonia- colony. As in, "Here in Chihuahua, there a several Mormon Colonies. Many years ago, the Prophet sent members from Utah to colonize certain sites here in Chihuahua, but since then most of them are pretty empty. The two Mormon colonies that are still thriving are Colonia Juarez and Colonia Dublan. On Saturday, we went to Colonia Juarez to help the ward update their membership records. It's a cool place!"

Templo- Temple. As in, "The temple is the House of the Lord. In the temple, we learn about God's Plan of Happiness and we make covenants with God to keep His commandments. He promises us eternal life if we follow through. We didn't get to go inside on Saturday, but we did get some pictures in front of the smallest temple in the world."

 

 

​The Sisters of the Colonia Juarez Zone

​Hermana Ramirez and Me.

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Aside from that super cool Saturday in Colonia Juarez, we had some good lessons. I'll tell you about one.

A missionary from the ward came home a couple weeks ago and had a big homecoming party. A few members called us afterward to tell us about a woman they had met there who had a lot of questions about the Gospel. So we went to meet her with the returned missionary, and she's super cool. She told us that she wants to improve her relationship with her daughters, and she wants to know what is the right way to get baptized. So we told that our message will help her improve her family relationships and come to know for herself what is the right way to be baptized.

Have a great week everyone!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark

Bienveindias!

Hola, hola!

I hope everyone's week was awesome.

First,

 

 

Happy Birthday to my sweet neice Ruby! :)

Spanish Lessons with Hermana Clark:

Felicidades- Congrats! As in, "Congrats to my sister, Michelle, and my Brother-in-law, Logan, who had their first baby this week!

Bienvenido/bienvenida- Welcome! As in, 

 

​A warm welcome to the world to my new niece, Audrey Jo! I'm excited to meet you in a little while! :) 

(You may have noticed that she has the best middle name ever.)

Also, welcome to my new companion, Hermana Ramirez!

 

 

​She's from Mexico (the state) and she got to the mission on Tuesday. We've had a good time this week getting to know each other as she gets to know the area.

Pueblo- small town or "people." As in, "Wherefore, I give unto you a commandment that ye go among this people, and say unto them, like unto mine apostle of old, whose name was Peter:

Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus, who was on the earth, and is to come, the beginning and the end;

Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, according to the holy commandment, for the remission of sins;

And whoso doeth this shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of the hands of the elders of the church." Doctrine and Covenants 49:11-14

We love this scripture because it's about our area. In Spanish, where it says "people," it says "Pueblo." Since our area is the Pueblo, it works really well for us. :)

Just one story today.

One day an appointment cancelled on us, so we started looking for someone else to visit. We passed by a lady who was in her yard painting a ginormous tire. So we asked what she was doing and she invited us to come see. She was painting a tractor tire to use as a flower bed. It looked pretty sweet. We ended up talking to her for a while and got to know each other. She invited us to come by another day and share our message with her.

It all started with a tractor tire.

Gotta go...It was a fast email this week.

Have a great week, everyone!!

~Hermana Hannah Jo Clark