Myrthr Tydfil - Wales - Lots of Sheep

Dear momma and papa and family and friends,

I shall answer your questions! Thanks!

Companion:
Sister L L. She is 22. Brown hair. From Ridgecrest, California (Southern California...in Death Valley...near it. Ha-ha! papa has probably been near it?) She came to the MTC at the same time as I came, and was companions with Sister P there. But then she hurt herself two days before flying to England, and had to get surgery then go home and then finally came back out in October. She is fabulous, and a hard worker and we have a lot of fun together. I love her! So that's great! Before the mission she went to a community college near her home. And she is the second to the youngest of 6 kids.

Wales. Transfer day was good. A little bit sad. Tuesday was sadder. I miss the B’s a ton. All those kids! G better get baptized soon so I can see them all again soon! So we left Evesham, drove and picked up the elders in Cheltenham, then drove to Birmingham. We had a meeting, then switched companions and emailed (why my last email was a bit scattered, it's hard to email when a group of missionaries are talking around you). Sister L and I then drove back to Wales together that same day. It only took a little over two hours to drive.

So I am in the Heads of the Valleys ward. But we work in Merthyr Tydfil. That’s where we live. There are three wards that meet there in that building. Our area is HUGE. It’s a far way out. But it is BEAUTIFUL! SO SO PRETTY! It’s hilly. GREEN. Wet. Rainy. Mossy. Old. Windy. Grey. And sooo pretty. Like Sense and Sensibility. Everything looks old. It’s really beautiful.
The flat: it's a two story little house. There are two bedrooms, so one has all our wardrobes in it, and one has a set of bunk beds and a single. There was a threesome here at one point. Sisters have been here in the area for about a year. And Sister S (the one I taught harp to at BYU) was the last one here. But her time was done, and she headed home. She was here for a really long time.

The Crandalls do our flat checks, but they aren't in our district. But I wish they were. But they go home in a few months, and then the Henrys will ask if they can come do our checks. I miss them! We both drive. Switch off. There are a LOT of sheep outside of Merthyr Tydfil.

I don't know the cross streets, I will try to find it out for next week. We live in a newer complex, and I don’t' know if it is on Google maps yet. But it's in a little part of Merthyr called Georgetown.

We don’t' have very many appointments. I feel like we are really whitewashing. Sister L has only been here for one transfer, and before her, the sisters that we here were here together for over 9 months. That’s a LONG time. And so I feel like work was hard, and so we don't have much here at all. Only one investigator. And he is great. My first day here, we had a lesson with him, (R) and set him up with a baptismal date for the 19th of March. So that's exciting!

I have the hardest time understanding the people here. They have the craziest accents! And they talk really fast. I barely understand anything that goes on. But I try to catch along, and I am doing better.

The church building is "the big white church at the bottom of Swansea road" this is something we say all the time. You can Google map that! Apparently David O McKay came to do the groundbreaking for it! So that's cool! I don't know much history, so if you find anything out, let me know!

We have a lot of towns that we work in. Merthyr Tydfil. Ebbw Vale (pronounced Ebba Vale), Blaina, Tredegar, Abergavenny, Rhymney (pron. remney). And there are more! Crazy. And the furthest is Abergavenny, and it's about 40 minutes away apparently. It’s a huge area. And it's hard, because transportation is hard from that far away to get to church on Sundays.

That’s cool that Ruth Clawson’s dad is from here! What part? How cool!
I didn't get to see the Stubbs because I was so far out. But they dropped off my package, and they got to call me from the mission home! It was so cool to talk to them! so sweet of them! It was funny to talk to someone from home! They are so sweet! And they love you, dear parents!
I’m not broken hearted about the clean flat award. It’s ok. I’m APW now. Ha-ha.

T is doing well. I was able to call him today to see how it was to get the priesthood, and it sounds like it was a very spiritual experience. He is so good. He types up every one of his cool experiences and then gives them to us. And he said that he'll send them to me every two weeks, and that he's already written me a letter. So I am glad he is doing ok.

Fun to hear about Abbie and James! Please ask her to email me! She is allowed to email me, and I’d love to email her! Also. How is Laura? Has she had her baby yet?

So things here are going well. I love it here. I am adjusting. It’s hard work. I knew that I was leaving because I was getting too comfortable in Evesham. It was too easy there. So now I have a major challenge. I had the chance to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting yesterday and almost got to meet everyone. We are on our way!

Favorite part of the week! We went to the little old 80 year old ladies house for dinner. Her name is Gl, and she is a recent convert of last November (a bit over a year ago.) and she just went to the temple, and was sealed to her husband that passed away. Anyways, she is amazing. And has amazing stories. One of which she was talking about how much she and her husband loved children, and how sad they were that they didn’t' have any. And then she said "maybe we were doing it wrong I reckon. Didn’t have anybody to show me." I about died laughing. Gosh, what a funny place! It’s great here, and I love it! Pray for us, and the area, and the ward. We need it!

I know I am here for a reason. (One of which I hope is that I may be able to find a harp!) And I love being here. I love you all, and I know this work is true!

Love,
Sister Annie Clark