22 August 2011
Dearest mom, papa, family, and friends,
It looks like you have had a FUN week! Thank you for all the pictures. And thank you for the detailed update.
DAVID!! How did you get the Jdawgs special sauce!??! Fantastic. I crave Jdawgs regularly.
So Yosemite sounded like it was perfect. I loved all the pictures so much. Thank you! I’m sad I wasn't there, but I didn't really actually think about it at all this week. It’s been a PACKED week, and I don't know...it's maybe been a better week than you had in Yosemite. I’ll try to beat it anyway. It’s been wonderful.
I’ll start with Monday. Last Monday, we had family home evening with the Bartlett family and Charlotte. Mat, Charlotte's less active fiancé, taught the lesson on how to gain a testimony. At the end, he asked us all to go around in a circle and bear our testimonies. At the end, he bore his, and it made him mom and Charlotte cry. It was amazing. He really has a testimony, and he's doing so well. We are so pleased for him. He’s great. And Charlotte is wonderful! Hopefully tonight, we'll get her with a baptismal date!
Tuesday we had an amazing AMAZING lesson with Bureh and Hawatu. The Tufts came with us. And their little girl, Brianna was asleep. Brianna is my favorite little girl ever....but it's distracting when she's awake. And I’m so glad she was asleep for this lesson, because it went so well. We talked about prayer and scripture study. And read from Joseph Smith History about his habits of scripture study and prayer, and how they go together. And how we have to be sincere if we want answers. Hawatu was much more involved in the lesson than usual. And she started talking about how she has been praying to know if the church is true. And she feels like before when she met with the missionaries, it wasn't the right time. But now it is. And she wants to be baptized along with Bureh. So we set their baptismal dates. Together, they'll get baptized on the 24th of September! A family! What we have been praying for. She’s amazing. Bureh then asked if we fast, and what we can fast for. And we fasted for them on Sunday so that they'll feel that the decision they've made is right. They are an amazing family. We love them SOOO much.
Wednesday was a pretty rubbish day. When it rains it pours, and Wednesday EVERYONE told us their problems, and everyone was having a hard time. We cried with all of them. But it was ok, because we were able to be there and hopefully uplift them, and give them hope.
Wednesday night, we wanted to try to make a Yorkshire pudding. And someone told us how to make it, so we tried. We were adding the batter to the hot glass pan that had been in the oven, and the pan completely exploded. Glass went everywhere. We were on the phone, and just screamed. I think we scared Mahdi to death. We were talking to him. Ha-ha, but it was ok. And the miracle was that the glass went everywhere, but it didn't touch us. And we didn’t' get hurt, except for a tiny nick in Sister Bakers foot. We just cleaned it up and moved on. Ha-ha. Oh dear.
Thursday was much better. Those people that we'd visited the day before were doing much better. And we had more miracles. We went to see Janet and Azad. Azad is the one that is a drug addict, and he NEEDS to get into detox to sort it all out. He had found out news that he wasn't being allowed into detox, and he was really depressed. But then we saw him, and were cheerful with him, and showed him that we loved him, and his mom told us that he was about to cry. It’s sweet to see that we touch so many lives. He special, and will someday be able to get baptized. He reads the Book of Mormon daily, I think! It’s awesome.
Friday. Friday was hilarious! We went out to our car in the morning to go to a less actives home, and we stopped a young man walking by us. An hour and a half later, we left to the less actives house. We talked on the street for an hour and a half! It was awesome. His name is Muhanneh, and he is from Sudan, and he's so cool. We gave him a Book of Mormon and our phone number if he wanted to know more. He told us that he'd call us that night, and he actually did. He’s gone in India for a three week holiday, but when he gets back, we'll hopefully teach him! He’s awesome.
Friday afternoon, we went to a referral that we made an appointment to see. He was pretty awkward, and asked if there were guys that could come instead. Begrudgingly (because we are greedy! ha-ha) we called the elders and had them come. They called us later wondering if we were for real, or if it was a joke. Apparently he was totally prepared, and they almost committed him to baptism! So it was quite the blessing to pass him to the elders. They need him more than we do.
Friday night, we went to the Dexter’s home. They are a part member, returning member family, and they are hilarious. We were meant to be going to do service, but when we got there, Lisa didn't feel in the mood, because they had just found out that Paul (the dad) has kidney disease. So instead they were going out to a meal. Lisa asked us to do her hair. Ha-ha. We did. And talked with her and Paul the whole time. It’s funny. Earlier this week, Sister Baker said that we need to start focusing on Paul, and start praying for him, and he needs to get baptized. And then we found that out. And maybe this is the road that will lead him to baptism! They are wonderful, and we pray for them.
Saturday! Oh Saturday started off SOOOO good. I got a call from President Ogden. That’s not always a good thing, but this time it definitely was. This is how the conversation went.
Pres: Sister Clark, do you remember Garry Barnes?
me: uhh, of course!
Pres: well, he called me and asked me if he can still get baptized with the form that they filled out so many months ago. So I asked him the five questions again. And he's sent off a letter to his parents telling them that he is getting baptized.
Me. *start crying!*
GARRY IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS TIME IT'S FOR REAL. I just got an email off him. This is what it says.
It looks like you have had a FUN week! Thank you for all the pictures. And thank you for the detailed update.
DAVID!! How did you get the Jdawgs special sauce!??! Fantastic. I crave Jdawgs regularly.
So Yosemite sounded like it was perfect. I loved all the pictures so much. Thank you! I’m sad I wasn't there, but I didn't really actually think about it at all this week. It’s been a PACKED week, and I don't know...it's maybe been a better week than you had in Yosemite. I’ll try to beat it anyway. It’s been wonderful.
I’ll start with Monday. Last Monday, we had family home evening with the Bartlett family and Charlotte. Mat, Charlotte's less active fiancé, taught the lesson on how to gain a testimony. At the end, he asked us all to go around in a circle and bear our testimonies. At the end, he bore his, and it made him mom and Charlotte cry. It was amazing. He really has a testimony, and he's doing so well. We are so pleased for him. He’s great. And Charlotte is wonderful! Hopefully tonight, we'll get her with a baptismal date!
Tuesday we had an amazing AMAZING lesson with Bureh and Hawatu. The Tufts came with us. And their little girl, Brianna was asleep. Brianna is my favorite little girl ever....but it's distracting when she's awake. And I’m so glad she was asleep for this lesson, because it went so well. We talked about prayer and scripture study. And read from Joseph Smith History about his habits of scripture study and prayer, and how they go together. And how we have to be sincere if we want answers. Hawatu was much more involved in the lesson than usual. And she started talking about how she has been praying to know if the church is true. And she feels like before when she met with the missionaries, it wasn't the right time. But now it is. And she wants to be baptized along with Bureh. So we set their baptismal dates. Together, they'll get baptized on the 24th of September! A family! What we have been praying for. She’s amazing. Bureh then asked if we fast, and what we can fast for. And we fasted for them on Sunday so that they'll feel that the decision they've made is right. They are an amazing family. We love them SOOO much.
Wednesday was a pretty rubbish day. When it rains it pours, and Wednesday EVERYONE told us their problems, and everyone was having a hard time. We cried with all of them. But it was ok, because we were able to be there and hopefully uplift them, and give them hope.
Wednesday night, we wanted to try to make a Yorkshire pudding. And someone told us how to make it, so we tried. We were adding the batter to the hot glass pan that had been in the oven, and the pan completely exploded. Glass went everywhere. We were on the phone, and just screamed. I think we scared Mahdi to death. We were talking to him. Ha-ha, but it was ok. And the miracle was that the glass went everywhere, but it didn't touch us. And we didn’t' get hurt, except for a tiny nick in Sister Bakers foot. We just cleaned it up and moved on. Ha-ha. Oh dear.
Thursday was much better. Those people that we'd visited the day before were doing much better. And we had more miracles. We went to see Janet and Azad. Azad is the one that is a drug addict, and he NEEDS to get into detox to sort it all out. He had found out news that he wasn't being allowed into detox, and he was really depressed. But then we saw him, and were cheerful with him, and showed him that we loved him, and his mom told us that he was about to cry. It’s sweet to see that we touch so many lives. He special, and will someday be able to get baptized. He reads the Book of Mormon daily, I think! It’s awesome.
Friday. Friday was hilarious! We went out to our car in the morning to go to a less actives home, and we stopped a young man walking by us. An hour and a half later, we left to the less actives house. We talked on the street for an hour and a half! It was awesome. His name is Muhanneh, and he is from Sudan, and he's so cool. We gave him a Book of Mormon and our phone number if he wanted to know more. He told us that he'd call us that night, and he actually did. He’s gone in India for a three week holiday, but when he gets back, we'll hopefully teach him! He’s awesome.
Friday afternoon, we went to a referral that we made an appointment to see. He was pretty awkward, and asked if there were guys that could come instead. Begrudgingly (because we are greedy! ha-ha) we called the elders and had them come. They called us later wondering if we were for real, or if it was a joke. Apparently he was totally prepared, and they almost committed him to baptism! So it was quite the blessing to pass him to the elders. They need him more than we do.
Friday night, we went to the Dexter’s home. They are a part member, returning member family, and they are hilarious. We were meant to be going to do service, but when we got there, Lisa didn't feel in the mood, because they had just found out that Paul (the dad) has kidney disease. So instead they were going out to a meal. Lisa asked us to do her hair. Ha-ha. We did. And talked with her and Paul the whole time. It’s funny. Earlier this week, Sister Baker said that we need to start focusing on Paul, and start praying for him, and he needs to get baptized. And then we found that out. And maybe this is the road that will lead him to baptism! They are wonderful, and we pray for them.
Saturday! Oh Saturday started off SOOOO good. I got a call from President Ogden. That’s not always a good thing, but this time it definitely was. This is how the conversation went.
Pres: Sister Clark, do you remember Garry Barnes?
me: uhh, of course!
Pres: well, he called me and asked me if he can still get baptized with the form that they filled out so many months ago. So I asked him the five questions again. And he's sent off a letter to his parents telling them that he is getting baptized.
Me. *start crying!*
GARRY IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS TIME IT'S FOR REAL. I just got an email off him. This is what it says.
"4th Sept subject to chapel availability.......no arm wrestling allowed :-)"
Ahhhhhh!!! I told Garry that I’d arm wrestle him to get baptized. Ha-ha. I never did. But OH MY GOSH. He’s getting baptized. I just cried. And then Sister Pope called me, and we cried together. So the fourth of September it is! Hallelujah! For some it takes a quarter of a century! Please pray for Garry! I’m fasting for him until he gets baptized! ...which is just this next week. And yesterday. Oh my word, I’m thrilled. This is better than any Christmas or birthday. :)!!!!!
So yeah. Saturday started out fantastic. And continued on to be fantastic. We got a new Chinese investigator.
People came to church! We just needed one more investigator at church for standard. But who cares! It’s been the best week ever. I wrote my Presidents letter, and I had to attach another page, I wrote so much. Things are amazing here.
I am glad you had such a good time in Yosemite! I’m excited for next year’s! I hope that we have another ALL the family one! I haven't been with all the family in years!
Mom. I will try to answer your questions now.
I love the paragraph from the Tufts blog. Thank you. Philippa is amazing. And I love that ward.
And yes. It did remind me very much of Karly and Eddie. It was even in the same month. I thought of Karly and Eddie all day on Wednesday. I love them. I can't believe that was like nine years ago. Right?
So many baptisms coming up next transfer. We have EIGHT with a date. We have more than a tenth of all the mission's baptisms! (Not that I’m bragging...but it's pretty awesome. we are so happy!)
Thoughts about next transfer. I think that I’ll stay. I sure HOPE I stay! With eight baptisms coming up! But I don’t' know. It’s a tossup. I might be put with a new companion for a transfer. Or Sister Baker will stay here, and stay here after me. If she stays, she'll be my companion for six months. As long as Sister Pope was with me. And if I stay, I’ll be here or 7 and 1/2 months. My longest area. I SURE HOPE I stay. But I will go where the Lord wants me to go. But it doesn't hurt to pray....right?
Flat checks aren't scary. They are fine. And the Tufts do them. And we are really clean. I’m actually REALLY clean lately. I can't leave the flat without it being tidy. I’m "nesting" apparently. I don’t' know. But I just like it clean! And it's never a worry for cleaning checks; we just have to be clean!
I’m so excited for elder Bednar to come. It’s going to be great. And the WHOLE mission will be together. And it's going to be so exciting. The only other time the whole mission has been together with me, is for the Christmas party. As of how many people I know, I feel like I know quite a few. A lot have left that I was really close to. But everyone that has ever been in my district, I’m pretty close to. So that's nice. And even some that I’ve never been in their district. We are a close mission. All good friends.
And for the Sisters that will come to our flat to sleep. Yeah, they'll mostly have to sleep on the floor I think. But we have lots of floor space. We have a spare bedroom, and one spare mattress. So it'll be good. It’s going to be so fun!
Anyways. Life is GOOD. I’m happy HAPPY to be here! I love it here, and I am making the MOST of my last two months! Happy days! Garry is getting BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL MY LOVE, HUPDARO!
Sister Annie Clark!
So yeah. Saturday started out fantastic. And continued on to be fantastic. We got a new Chinese investigator.
People came to church! We just needed one more investigator at church for standard. But who cares! It’s been the best week ever. I wrote my Presidents letter, and I had to attach another page, I wrote so much. Things are amazing here.
I am glad you had such a good time in Yosemite! I’m excited for next year’s! I hope that we have another ALL the family one! I haven't been with all the family in years!
Mom. I will try to answer your questions now.
I love the paragraph from the Tufts blog. Thank you. Philippa is amazing. And I love that ward.
And yes. It did remind me very much of Karly and Eddie. It was even in the same month. I thought of Karly and Eddie all day on Wednesday. I love them. I can't believe that was like nine years ago. Right?
So many baptisms coming up next transfer. We have EIGHT with a date. We have more than a tenth of all the mission's baptisms! (Not that I’m bragging...but it's pretty awesome. we are so happy!)
Thoughts about next transfer. I think that I’ll stay. I sure HOPE I stay! With eight baptisms coming up! But I don’t' know. It’s a tossup. I might be put with a new companion for a transfer. Or Sister Baker will stay here, and stay here after me. If she stays, she'll be my companion for six months. As long as Sister Pope was with me. And if I stay, I’ll be here or 7 and 1/2 months. My longest area. I SURE HOPE I stay. But I will go where the Lord wants me to go. But it doesn't hurt to pray....right?
Flat checks aren't scary. They are fine. And the Tufts do them. And we are really clean. I’m actually REALLY clean lately. I can't leave the flat without it being tidy. I’m "nesting" apparently. I don’t' know. But I just like it clean! And it's never a worry for cleaning checks; we just have to be clean!
I’m so excited for elder Bednar to come. It’s going to be great. And the WHOLE mission will be together. And it's going to be so exciting. The only other time the whole mission has been together with me, is for the Christmas party. As of how many people I know, I feel like I know quite a few. A lot have left that I was really close to. But everyone that has ever been in my district, I’m pretty close to. So that's nice. And even some that I’ve never been in their district. We are a close mission. All good friends.
And for the Sisters that will come to our flat to sleep. Yeah, they'll mostly have to sleep on the floor I think. But we have lots of floor space. We have a spare bedroom, and one spare mattress. So it'll be good. It’s going to be so fun!
Anyways. Life is GOOD. I’m happy HAPPY to be here! I love it here, and I am making the MOST of my last two months! Happy days! Garry is getting BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALL MY LOVE, HUPDARO!
Sister Annie Clark!
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