Don't worry, my hair is just falling out

I got to stay in another city for a day this week! I was in Martorell with Hermana Spencer for an intercambio. I loved Martorell! It was so nice to be in the mountains. I didn't realize how much I missed the mountains back home.

So we had another holiday yesterday here in Catalunya. It's called Sant Jordi. So what happens is the men give women roses, and the women give men books. The reason for this is because there is a legend about a men fighting a dragon to save a damsel. And when he kills the dragon, I think it turns into a rose and he gives it to her, or he just gave her a rose or something. Not sure. Also, not sure where the book part of it came from either... but hey! We made use of it as missionaries! We gave out copies of the Book of Mormon! It was actually super fun. For about an hour or so, we went on splits, and so it was just me and our relief society president. That was fun, but really imitidating because I'm still learning Spanish. But if I don't try I'm not going to get anywhere. So we went contacting and gave out some books! The relief society president said that it was nice to get a taste of what us missionaries do everyday. She said that the members need to help more. Hearing that was music to my ears! Missionary work is sooooo much more effective when the members help. Members are vital to missionary work.

I had my first zone conference in the mission. It was amazing! I learned so much. Our conference ended up being 10 hours long. Yes, 10 whole hours haha. I don't know what's normal for most missions, but I loved it! 

To make mission life more exciting, sometimes we try to get onto the roof of buildings. This week we did. But to get onto this one roof, the door was lock, but part of it was missing. So naturally, we decided to just climb through the hole. It sounded like a good idea. But this day I was also in a pencil skirt. I got stuck. But! I also made it through the hole and onto the roof! And instead of helping me, my lovely companion just recorded me struggling. It was actually really funny. We were laughing pretty hard.

Well, I don't have a lot of time to write today. But I'm excited for this coming week! The members know that it's my birthday on Friday, and so they are all planning on feeding me haha. So much food is coming. Today we had our first of seven eating appointments. But it's fine cause South American and Spanish food is amazing! I will let you all know how it goes! Until next time, the Church is true, the book is blue, and I love you!

-Hermana Clark

Ps- the hermanas that I live with have figured out that I don't like my feet being touched. They go to great lengths to touch my feet, including hiding under my bed for 20 or so minutes.

Pss-the water here is bad. We can't drink it, or wash your hair in it very often or it will fall out. My hair is still falling out regardless...

Easter is a big deal in Spain

It's been another week! I can't believe it! The work here has been wonderful! We were able to have another baptism! The area of Hospitalet is on fire! So many wonderful people that are ready to hear the gospel. This week our investigator Lana (this is not her real name, just for privacy sake for my blog) was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Such a wonderful experience! She's from Ecuador.

The thing about the area I live in, is that most of the people are immigrants. I have yet to teach an actual Spaniard. They are pretty set in their ways. There is something called "the Spanish finger" here. I've gotten it a lot when try to contact Spaniards. They basically just wave their finger at you, which means no. There have been times when I have walked up to someone and right when I open my mouth, they automatically give me "the Spanish finger" before I have a chance to even say anything. It can be pretty frustrating. A lot of people say that European missions are hard. And it's true. But, I know that there are many people in Spain who are ready to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I feel very blessed that I have been able to have these baptisms right off the bat. But really, they're not "my" baptisms, they're the Lord's. We've been so blessed with so much help. The mission is a very humbling experience.

In other news, I lost my voice this week, and I had the opportunity to meet and talk to our area authority, . Oh, and Pascua (Easter) is a really big deal here. It's a whole week long event. It's called Santa Semana (Holy Week). There are a lot of street processions. One early in the week with a bunch of people dressed up in white and red with palms branches and other people dressed up as Romans. That one symbolizes Christ coming into Jerusalem. The next one is on Friday night. That one has a bunch of people dressed in black robes with pointy hats completely covering their faces (except for two slits for their eyes), with chains around their ankles, and carrying big wooden crosses over their shoulder. There is also a float-thing of Christ hanging from the cross that goes through the streets. Everyone else in the procession carries candles, and there are drums being played as well. That procession kinda creeped me out, to be honest. But it's a big deal here. All of the businesses close early and EVERYONE goes out in the streets to watch. The roads are blocked off and everything. This whole procession symbolizes Christ's death. The next procession is on Sunday. This time there are people dressed up in the same robes with the pointy hats, but they are white and red. And this time they are carrying a fancy, ornate, gold cross in front of them. And everyone else is dressed up as Roman soliders. And again there are drums. I'm pretty sure that this procession symbolizes Christ's resurrection. Not completely sure though. So yep. Easter is a really big deal here. Basically all businesses have been closed all weekend. Except for the little tiendas (stores) run by the Pakistan people. I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong, it's really hard to write in English now...

But anyways, it was a really good week! I hope you are all doing well back home! And I hope you enjoyed Easter! Make sure you watch the new Easter video, Prince of Peace. It's amazing! We love to show it to people. I am so grateful for Christ and all that He has done for us. Because of Him we can not only live again, but we can live with our families forever. We are never alone, because Christ has felt all of our pains, trials, afflictions, sins, and sorrows. I love this gospel and it's message of hope that it brings. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

-Hermana Clark

PS- My favorite drink here is called zumo de maracuyá. It's passion fruit juice. It is simply amazing.

I kinda live in the ghetto

Hello all!

Things are going great here in Hospitalet! I'm not sure if I already said so, but before I got assigned to this area, I felt that I was going to be assigned to Barcelona, but only the office missionaries get assigned to Barcelona. But, Hospitalet is the area right next to it, so in a way I guessed right :)

I had my very first baptism in the mission! It was such an amazing experience! We will call her Yasseña just for privacy reasons for my blog :) But anyways, Yasseña is 17 years old. She was about halfway through all the lessons when I arrived, so I got to help teach her quite a bit. We saw her everyday last week. But her baptism on Saturday was so beautiful! She is the first person in her family to join the church. They are from Ecuador, by the way. But her whole family was crying, and after her baptism her mom came up to us and told us that she wants to be baptized too! We were so shocked! So we're working on that now! :) Missionary work is so wonderful!

So Hospitalet is the second most "ghetto" area in the mission. There are some areas that we aren't allowed to go to at night for our safety. Some really interesting things happen though in this area... haha Like the other day we went to a lesson, and when our investigator open the door he was completely and utterly naked. We were just like, "Uhhhhh... Is there another woman here?" And he said that he was just at home with his son. So we quickly made an appointment for another day and left. Later he texted us and told us that his wife doesn't want to investigate the church, but maybe in the future. We were just laughing about the whole thing all day haha. Europeans are different from Americans when summer comes haha.

Fun fact: I live in an area of Spain called Catalunya, and so there is another language here. It's called Catalan. All metro stops and most signs (street signs, resturant signs, store signs, etc) are in Catalan, not Spanish. There are some ways that it's kind of similar to Spanish, but not really... And you hear people speak Catalan a lot. So that's fun! I know a couple basic phrases in Catalan, but that's it. But it does make some things confusing, cause I have a really hard time pronouncing the metro stops haha.

The other day we were running to catch the metro after preparation day (we had played volleyball and stuff with our district) and I tripped and fell down so bad haha. My knees are really purple and my scab still bleeds sometimes, but it's okay! We laughed a lot when I fell haha

We were able to watch most of General Conference this weekend. General Conference is when we have the opportunity to listen to our prophets and apostles speak. Because of the time difference, we watched the Saturday Morning Session on Saturday night, and then the Sat Afternoon Session on Sunday morning, and the Sunday Morning Session on Sunday night. We have to read the Sunday Afternoon Session on our own time another day. We were also able to set up a TV upstairs in the church so all of us American missionaries could watch in English. So that was super nice! I just loved being able to watch conference though! It's true when people say it is so much better in the mission! 

Also, I would like to take a moment and thank my brother Cade for helping me so much with my Spanish before I left. Thank you for helping me translate my testimony into Spanish, because that's what I have to hold onto when I have no idea what is going on and my brain is having a hard time thinking of what to say. But really, just thank you for all of your mini Spanish lessons, it's all starting to make sense now what you said. There are so many times that I have been thankful for that. So thank you, Cade :)

Well, I just love it here! Missionary work is amazing and wonderful! It's hard and you get rejected a lot, but it's alright! I love how I have been able to meet so mang different people from so many different places and countries. I have learned so much here. There are good people everywhere. Well, I think that's it for today! I love you all! And Heavenly Father loves you too! Nos vemos!

-Hermana Clark

Ps-I counted the other day when we were visiting a lady in her piso (apartment) and we had to climb up 12 flights of stairs. Yes. 12. My legs are super buff now haha