This Is It

Well, I guess this is it. It's so hard to believe that I have been in Spain for 18 months now. Gosh, how time flies! It's not even fair. But it is time to do new and different things now, I guess. To be honest, I am so excited to see my family! But I am so sad to leave Spain. I'm on a bus home to Vitoria after having spent my very last preparation day in San Sebastian. It was a good one to go out on!

Gosh, I am really going to miss being a missionary. There is something so special about being so involved in the process of a person changing their life and making covenants with God. I also just know that I have never grown so much as a person in such a short amount of time. Serving a mission was something that I had never planned for in my life, but I really cannot thank God enough for the chance that I have had to serve His Son. The mission has changed me so much, and I know that I am a different person because of it.

I have learned that forgiveness and not judging others is so extremely important in this life. I literally cannot progress in this life with these two principles. I have learned that most everyone is just trying to do thr right thing and be happy in their life. And I have learned that the only way to be truly happy when we understand who we are and our divine potential as sons and daughters of God, and to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To actually live it, and not just study it or think about it. And to live ALL of the Gospel, not just picking and choosong the parts that we like. If we only do half of the work, we will only get half of the blessings.

I hope you all have an incredible week! I know that I will! It is going to be full of paella! Be happy and dream big! I love you all!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I really do love you all! Thank you so much for your love, support, letters amd emails!

Cherries!

So I may have procrastinated emailing today because we are in PAMPLONA! It's so pretty here! I've been here once before, but it is just so much funnto wander around all of the windy little streets and look at everything. Spain is so fun! Such a fun energy!

Last week Hermana Colque and I were the first hermanas to step foot in a city called Burgos in 7 years. We felt pretty special! The next two days we were in Bilbao. She has to have some medical stuff done, so we have been traveling quite a bit lately.

While we were in Burgos, we went to this pueblo with the matrimony missionary couple. There are literally only three steeets. And there are more cherries than people. While were we waiting to meet with some friends, Hermana Colque and I asked if we could help the workers harvest cherries. And the farmer said yes! And he also said that we could eat as many as we wanted! Hehehe Anyways, we were just harvesting some cherries, talking to the workers (who are from ALL over the world) and I started making friends with this one girl from Africa about my age. In the end, she asked us for our number! So that was pretty exciting!

Sorry, I don't have more time. I love you all! Remember that we are literally so important to God, that He worries about the little details in our life. What is important to us, is important to Him. He loves us so much!

-Hermana Clark

Ps- Next week will be the last time I send out an email. Spooky.

African dancing

So many things to tell this week! First. Yesterday we were out walking the beautiful streets of Spain, and it started to rain a little bit. You honestly never know when it is going to rain in Vitoria. But when it rains, it pours. So we were like, "Oh no." So we starting frantically walking around looking for cover, because we were far away from any bus stops and stuff. So we find this building that has the main door open, but we just decide to stand under the entrance that is only like 1 foot deep. I was on google maps looking fornsome sort of refuge, and all of the sudden the rain really starts coming down and there is a ton of lightning. I was about to suggest to my companion that we should just hang out in the lobby of the building and wait, but then this woman comes up behind us and shuts the door AND locks it with a key. That was sad. But then it started to hail. Fun fact: we didn't have umbrellas and I was in my sandals because it was literally so hot. So then the hail started gettting bigger. Until it was a downpour of hail the size of nickles and quarters. My companion was trying to protect herself with her tablet, and I got pelted a few times on my head and hands, etc. I put my glasses in my bag cause I was worried that they would break. Of course, everyone was looking out their windows to see the storm and two girls squealing/trying to hide under a 1 foot porch thing. And then everyone closed their shutters to protect their windows haha. We were half laughing, but kinda sad, because no one helped us, and the hail really hurt. After probably 20 minutes or so, the relief president called us and invited us over to dinner so we could dry off. I will admit, I teared up a bit. It felt so nice to be loved. Tender mercies :) So we waited for it to stop, and then we made our way over to her house. But there was so much rain that many of the streets werr closed because of flooding and the storm drains were so backed up that they were spitting water everywhere. It was a crazy day!

On Saturday our ward had a cultural party and a talent show. My companion and I borrowed some African dresses and did an African dance! The ward literally flipped out watching am American and a Chilean doing an African dance haha. It was soooo muvh fun! So we decided to wear the dresses to church. Such a bit hit! Haha

I realize more and more everyday how important faith is. There have been times when I have felt that I have nothing left to give, but then Christ steps in and gives me more strength and energy. It's hard to explain unless you have experienced it. But it is such an incredible and empowering feeling. I love it :)

I was also in Barcelona again last week for a meeting. Since I go home soonish, I gave a little thing in the meeting called "Lo que el Señor me ha enseñado" (what the Lord has taught me). I basically just cried.

I hope you all have a beautiful week! Please be good!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I am still convinced that people are mostly good. I see way more examples of good than bad. People are good :) 

Blood Sausages

Our new mission president and his wife are the best!!! President and Hermana Galli! Wow they are so inspiring! They are also super quirky and funny! I wish so badly that I could stay longer just to be taught by them. Also, Hermana Galli is considerably taller than President Galli, and it just describes their personalities perfectly hahaha. But wow, they are exactly what our mission needs right now. President Galli served his mission in Southern Spain, so that's super exciting! And Hermana Galli also speaks Spanish. The welcome conference that we had with them was amazing!!!!

The biggest thing that I learned this week was to do things intentionally. Be purposeful in every action. Don't do things half-way or half-hearted. If you are going to do something, don't waste your time and kind of do it. Do it well and completely. That is how Christ was. Everything He did, He did intentionally and with a purpose. He was so steady in everything that He did. He had perfect control of situations, because He had perfect control of Himself. My spirit needs to be in control of my body and my mind, not the other way around. I love the quote that goes something like, "We are not humans having a spiritual experience, we are spirits having a human experience." The time on the earth is not forever. We are here to learn and to progress. We need to feed our spirits uplifting things continously.

I tried to make Papa a la Huacaina (Peruvian dish) last week, and let's just say that I kind of failed hahaha. But! It was just an adventure running around everywhere trying to find a certain kind of yellow pepper called ahí. We ended up in this African store, and we are obviously not African haha. Everyone was just staring at us haha. But hey, we are missionaries, so people literally just stare at us all of the time haha.

I want all of you to have the most wonderful week ever! If school is starting soon, good luck and study lots! I'll talk to you all next week! I love you!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- A member gave me a package of blood sausages at church yesterday. I think it's called morcillo. I love Spain! 

Chili vs Chile

I realized when I got home last week on Preparation Day that I said that my companion is from Chili. That's the food, not the country haha. She's from Chile hahaha. She is so much fun! We are literally just working so hard and it is so much fun!

My mission president and his wife finished their mission this last week. Now we have President Galli and his wife! We will be meeting them this Friday at a conference! I am so stinkin excited!! Also, we officially now have some areas of the Malaga Mission in our mission. Woooo!

I realized something the other day that changed my life. I have always had a bit of a hard time grasping the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love studying medical stuff, and so it has been always been more difficult for me to understand how Jesus Christ paid for all of our sins and felt every saddness, trial and hardship that we have. I have always struggled with that a bit. I have always had a testimony, because I can feel the Spirit confirm to me that it is true, and that it actually happened, but the physical idea part of it was harder for me to understand. Then I was reading a talk, and it talked about empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person's situation and feel what they feel. I had always been telling people that Christ has felt everything that we have, and so I realized that that is empathy. Everything just made so much more sense after that.

The mission is just so wonderful. Holy cow. I don't want it to end. God is blessing us so much right now. I have never been able to teach so many families and people all at once. Wow. I love working with them and going through their struggles with them. I don't think that I have ever cried so much before. I love them all so much! And when they hurt, I hurt. God is so good. Wow. I love Him so much. I have learned to work hard and wait. God doesn't always bless us immediately, because otherwise we don't learn.

I love you all so much! Enjoy the summer! Eat watermelon! Also, Happy Fourth of July to you Americans out there!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- All of the clothes stores are starting their summer sales called rebajas. It's so fun!! :D

One More Transfer :(

I have to be quick this week because we had transfers again, and as usual, it's been a crazy busy day! There is nothing like running on only three hours of sleep haha. My new companion is named Hermana Colque and she is from Chili!!!! I flipped out when they told me on Saturday!! I was secretely hoping to have my last companion be a native! I really want to improve my Spanish the most that I absolutely can before I go home!!

The weather here is ridiculous. Seriously. I had still been wearing my coat last week, and then all of the sudden it has been burning hot. Spring does not exist here. It went straight from cold to hot. I am already pretty tan. So that's fun.

I really just love being a missionary. It makes me so happy :) It's the best thing ever!

Well, I hope that you all have the most wonderful week ever!! I am so excited to work so, so, so hard here in Vitoria for my last transfer in the mission. I am going to give it absolutely everything that I have got!! Woooo!!! I love you all!!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- All of the members wanted to say goodbye to Hermana Barlow this weekend, we were fed so much food that I swear I do not want to eat ever again haha

Mossy Floor

I don't think that I have ever traveled this much in my entire life. Holy cow! Within the past week, I have been in Barcelona, Bilbao (3 times within 4 days), and San Sebastian. So basically, Sunday we flew out to Barcelona, got to Bilbao Monday night, returned home to Vitoria Tuesday evening. Wednesday was a normal day in Vitoria. Thursday we woke up at 5:30 to catch a bus to Bilbao for a sister missionary conference, returned back to Vitoria Wednesday night at 8:30 or so. Friday we woke up at 4:15 to catch another bus to Bilbao for zone conference. We got back to Vitoria Friday night at 10:45. Saturday I had my final interview with President Dayton. Such an incredible interview! Sunday was a normal day in Vitoria. Today (Monday) we woke up at 3:20 to catch a bus to San Sebastian. (Which was actually free or my companion and I because we had the cleanest piso in the zone. Free trip!) And today we got back from San Sebastian a couple of hours ago. So I have never had so much fun traveling, but it is a bit tiring to say the least haha.

I have to say that San Sebastian is the prettiest place I have EVER been. You need to google it! We hiked a trail up to a castle and then rented bikes and biked along the coast. But then it started dumping rain. And of course we were very unprepared and got drenched! It was sooooo fun!! It was literally like I had just jumped in the ocean haha. But we had to catch our bus back home, so we went to the bathroom at the bus station and tried to dry off haha. Definitely made some of the best memories of my life today! 

This week was so spiritually filled, because we had so many conferences and meetings. And because it was the last time that I will see President and Hermana Dayton before they go home in two weeks. We all cried a lot. They are such good people. They do what is right and have inspired me so much over the last 16 months or so. There was literally so much information and stuff that we learned, that there is no way I can explain it all. So I am just going to write random sentences and I hope it makes sense.

What would you do today if you knew you could not fail? Be determined. There is always a way. Have faith that God will open a way if you do your part. Two men can do anything if one of them is the Lord. 

As long as you live with the spirit, you will do right. Your good thoughts invite the spirit. Train your mind to have faith in God and in yourself. Your thoughts are essential. Happiness will find its place.

Always speak loving words. Be a people builder. Give compliments generously. Leave everyone better than you found them.

Be in places where the spirirt resides. This will keep you safe and lift you up. It is a huge foundational rock for you.

Develop a genuine work ethic. Don't do anything half hearted. If you do anything half-way or kind of/sort of finish it, you have wasted your time. Focus on the most important things. Do them first! Don't wait for people to tell you what to do. Be proactive and be creative. Work until you are tired, and then keep working. Give all that you can.

Faith is an actual substance and it emits light. It grows by choice. Faith drives diligence. Miracles are the result of faith, very rarely they create faith.

I wish you all the most wonderful week ever!! Be good! Do good! And be happy! I love you!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I did not know that places can be so humid that moss can grow on the floor. You learn something new everyday!

You can do hard things!

My life was saved by a pilot yesterday. Wow. So, okay, I have to start at the beginning. Sunday night we had to go to Barcelona for an all day meeting with the missionary leadership. (I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but back in January I got called to be a Sister Training Leader. Basically my companion and I watch and care for all of the hermanas in our zone. Sometimes we give teachings in zone conferences. But we have to travel a lot to visit the other hermanas in their areas and see how they are doing, etc. But we also have leadership meetings once a month in Barcelona.) So anyways, to catch our plane to Barcelona, we first have to take an hour bus ride to Bilbao. That was all fine. The weather has been awful this last week. It has been pouring rain every single day. Everyday. Literally. So our flight was delayed by almost two hours. We ended up getting to Barcelona just after midnight. Then, the other missionaries who work in the office came and picked up us. We were just driving down the freeway and all of the sudden the clutch of the car stops working. We barely made it off of the freeway because we were going so slow. One of the Elders shouted that faith can not only move mountains, but it can move vans hahaha. I guess it worked! So the elders started looking at the car and figured out what the problem was. No clutch fluid. (Honestly, I have no idea what that means, but whatever haha) So we called a few taxi companies until one answered and we took a taxi to the apartment of where some other hermanas live. We arrived there around 1:30am, ate a snack, showered, and went to bed a little after 2:00am.

The next day, we had the leadership meeting (which I will write about in a bit), and we got to the airport on time in the evening. But as I was about to board the plane, I got stopped. My residency here in Spain expired forever ago, and I have been waiting to have a meeting with the government since December. My papers are still pending. So I got stopped cause my card was expired. And, silly me, I forgot to bring my passport with me. I had to call the mission office, and they were in the process of texting me some papers to show the airport people. But, the plane was about to leave. So they told me that it was taking too long, and there was no way that I could board. But! All of the sudden, the pilot walks up and asks what the problem  was. They tell him what is going on, and he says, "I don't see a problem with her flying because she is with me." I was stunned. They gave me my expired ID back and I walked on with the pilot. BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE! So then I flew to Bilbao! We made sure to write him a thank you note :)

So. The leadership meeting. Since the Daytons (my mission president and his wife) are going home in three weeks, this was their last leadership meeting with us. They are incredibly inspiring people. They basically just did teachings on how to be unstoppable, successful, good people and leaders. Wow. I learned that I always need to stay on the path of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The little things matter. Read your scriptures daily. Go to church weekly. Daily prayer. Go to activities. Surround yourself with good people who you can learn from. Also, realize your God given talents, and then shoot for the moon. You are a son or daughter of God. Do you realize that? Have you thought about it much? God is your Father. And He loves you. He wants to help you in anything and everything. Go for your dreams! Don't let anything stop you! Figure out a way to get there! You can do it! Don't you dare sell yourself short. That is what Satan wants. Whatever it is that you want to do, go and achieve it. Get back up every single time that you fall. It will make you stronger. Christ will help you along every step of the way. Always be learning. Don't neglet your spirit and your mind. They need nourishment. Keep progressing. It's really hard to explain just what I learned from the meeting. It was so inspiring. I am so pumped!! I am a daughter of God! It's amazing!!

Well, this is really long now. I love you all so much!! Please know that you are loved :) And prayed for :) Until next week! Ciao!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- On Thursday we are having a women's conference with Hermana Dayton and other women. Hermana Dayton founded an image consultanting business. She in incredible!! I am so excited!

Running of the Bulls

This week I had the opportunity to travel to Pamplona! That is where they do the traditional running of the bulls. It is so beautiful over there! I really feel like I am getting to see so much of Spain now. I love traveling! I love adventures! But seriously, I loved being able to spend a day in Pamplona. Might have been my only chance in my whole life.

Lately I have been learning a lot about how important our thoughts are. Every single thought we have either builds us up, or brings us down. Every single one. Everything you do starts in your mind. If you think that you can't get good grades, you will not get good grades. If you think that you aren't good enough to make the soccer team, you will perform poorly and won't make the team. If you think that you aren't smart enough, or pretty enough, or handsome enough, your self confidence will go down. I read a talk/article from an Olympic coach. He trains his athletes to talk back to their thoughts. Every single one. Talk positively to yourself! The way to talk to yourself matters! God wants us to be happy! He has put us here on this earth to be successful and has given us every opportunity to do so! We were not put on this earth to just try to be "good enough" and do the bare minimum just so we can avoid going to hell. We are here to succeed! And to do so gloriously! Every trial that we have in this life is really an opportunity to grow and learn how to react. Every single trial is a chance. Be kind to youself during those trials and be positive! Talking back to yourself might sound a little strange and only be advice for people who are "struggling", but it is what has made the difference between athletes and Olympians. And let's be honest, everyone is struggling to some degree or another. God will always help us. Christ knows exactly how we feel. I know that Christ suffered in the Garden of Gethsamane and felt every single hardship, pain, sadness, and trial that we have ever had. I don't know how exactly, but I know that He has done it. Because I have felt His overwhelming love for me. I feel it every time I pray.

I hope you all have the most wonderful week ever!! Be happy! Work hard! Remember that God loves you! And so do I! :)

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- Next week I will only be in my area of Vitoria for a couple of days. Sunday after church I will either be flying or taking a train down to Barcelona for a meeting on Monday. Tuesday evening I will be getting back to Vitoria. Wednesday is my preparation day. Thursday I will be in Bilbao for a women's conference. Friday I will still be in Bilbao for another conference. And Saturday I will be back in Vitoria for my final interview with President Dayton. Crazy week coming up.

Antoniareneko ibilbidea

It rains so much here in Vitoria. Wow. I had no idea haha. I am really loving it, though. Everything is so green here!! There are sooo many trees and flowers and everything is just so pretty! I am in heaven!!! You can see the stars at night, I heard a bunch of crickets yesterday, and this morning I woke up to the sound of someone mowing the lawn. So of course, I opened the window to smell the freshly cut grass. It was perfect, because it has literally been so long since I have smelled cut grass, until a bee flew into our apartment. My companion is allergic to bees. But luckily, with the help of a broom, the bee flew back outside.

So before, when I was in Hospitalet and Barcelona, I was in the part of Spain called Catalunya. There they have their own language called Catalan. And when I was in Valencia, I was in the part of Spain called Valencian Community. There they speak Valenciano. Now here in Vitoria, I am in Basque Country. Here they speak a language called Basque, or Euskera (Basque translated into Spanish). Basque is literally impossible to understand. All of the streets are in Basque. For example, there is a street named Zabalateko gazteluaren kalea. It looks like I made that up, but I did not haha. All of the words are ridiculously long. I think that kelea means street, but I am not sure...

The Spaniards here are different than in my other areas. They are not all warm and fuzzy that's for sure haha. But I have decided that I am going to go everything possible to love them as much as I can. I gave so many besos (kisses) to the women yesterday that my foundation on my cheeks rubbed off haha. I am so happy to be serving the people here in Vitoria!! Basically everyone here is Spaniard, African, or Colombian.

Well, I think I have spent enough time describing the area. Everything here is wonderful! We are working so hard! There is nothing better than flopping down on your bed after a hard day's work! Our mission president has a new slogan going on called D.B.A.W. It means "Don't be a wimp". We are here to work hard! The Kingdom of God or nothing!

I love you all! Work hard! Get things done!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- There is a missionary named Elder Barlow in my district. We went to high school together!

I was scared

We got on the metro the other night, and there was a man sitting on the floor. I instantly noticed the syringe that he was holding. We went and sat down with a man that we are teaching. I looked at him closer and he had blood running down his arm from different spots where he had been injecting himself. Then he dropped his syringe got up from the floor and kind of starting walking around. He was twitching a lot and mumbling nonsense. There have been a few times on my mission when I have been scared, but I was really scared this time. Not necessarily because I was worried that he was going to hurt us or anything, it was just scary. I have never been that close to drugs ever in my life. I mean, I see and smell marijuana all the time and stuff, but this was really intense. It was not a movie. It was real life. People really do struggle with drug addictions. Satan is very real. Life is very hard. It made me think, if I have potential to do good I want to do it. I want to grow and use my potential. I am capable of contributing to this world. I don't want to waste my talents.

Another story. We were walking home the other day, and suddenly we noticed that someone was singing opera. We peeked around the corner and there was a lady standing in the entrance of a little shop singing opera. Really random things happen here all of the time, so we weren't too surprised. So we just kept walking, and around another corner there was another lady singing in the entrance of a different shop! You never know what it going to happen in Barcelona! Especially in the summer, because there are so many tourists. There are lots of street shows and things like that.

I really just love the gospel. So much. It really has become my life since being on the mission. I mean, I went to Church before, but I can't say that I really loved the gospel as much as I do know. It is a part of me. The gospel is perfect. Man is not. God is perfect. Man is not. Our purpose in being here on the earth is to progress. To aim for perfection. Trusting God can be scary sometimes, because I can only see so far ahead, but I know that it is right. I realized at the end of the day yesterday that I have exactly 3 months left until I go home. I really just want to work so hard. I want to learn more than I ever have. I love Jesus Christ. I know that He is my Savior. And He's your's too. He loves you :)

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I get to be companions with my "baby" for the night today! 

Peanut Butter Birthday Crab

Well well well. Here I am again! I am convinced that on Saturday I had the BEST meal that I have ever had on my mission! I can't remember what it is called, but it is an African dish. We had crab and shrimp cooked in a peanutbutter sauce. I know that it sounds weird, but it was sooooo good!!! We have been teaching a woman from Africa since January, and she is just waiting to get married so that she can be baptized. But since it was my birthday on Saturday, they wanted to make us something special. A traditional dish from their country, Equatorial Guinea. It took a couple hours to make, but my goodness gracious it was so flippin good!! Also, it was my first time eating crab, so that was fun! They taught us how to bite the legs and suck out the meat hehehehe. I discovered that I really like crab! Who knew?

So we are teaching a 23 year-old kid from Mexico! His girlfriend is actually a missionary in Brazil! She was the one who gave us his information :) He really wants to be baptized and be a member, but he really wants to make sure that he is doing it for himself, and not for anyone else. By the time we got to meet with him for the first time, he had been coming to church at a different time all by himself since November! And he has read about half of the Book of Mormon already. He is doing so well! I love the lessons that we have with him. His questions are so good!

I was thinking the other day, and in these past 3 months or so, I don't think I have ever learned so much in my entire life. I have been learning so much about the Gospel and about life in general. I literally can do anything that I want to in this life because I am a divine daughter of God and I have the help of Christ. I can do hard things and achieve! We all can! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of progression! It is not an idle gospel. It is meant to push us and help us become better people. The end goal is to have everything that God has, which includes being like Him! Which is perfection!

Anyways, I hope you all have the most wonderful week! Thank you so much for all of the birthday wishes! I love you all so much! Remember that God loves you!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- The bishop's wife made me some arroz chaufa for my birthday. I was quite the happy camper :) hehehe

Sant Jordi-Round 2

I know that last year I talked about a holiday in Catalunya called Sant Jordi. I didn't really think much about the fact that I would be in Catalunya a year later to celebrate it again! So basically the story is about how a prince named Jordi killed a dragon to save a princess, and the dragon's blood turned into roses. So he gave the princess the roses. This is basically the Catalunya version of Valentine's Day. Everyone is selling roses everywhere, cause the men give the women roses. But also, in return, the women give men books. Not sure where the book thing came in. But whatever. So we set up a booth and gave out Books of Mormon! We also did that last year, but this year we were only able to be there for about an hour or so. We had a lot of teaching visits that day. I enjoyed Sant Jordi a lot more this year cause I can actually speak Spanish now, and it is so fun to be in Barcelona!!! Over the weekend, the street in front of our apartment was closed off. There were parades and carnival booths complete with a trampoline thing! In the parade, they had these huge giants depicting different characters in the Sant Jordi legend with a bunch of Catalan music.

Later that day, we had an appointment to meet with a Spaniard. We had never met him before, but some other missionaries sent us his info. The teaching appointment was amazing!!! He really wants to learn and is looking for the Church of Jesus Christ. But a few hours later he messaged us saying that he thinks it would be better if the Elders taught him because he was pretty sure that our parents wouldn't be happy if they knew we were meeting with a middle-aged man hahahahaha. He has no idea that we meet and talk with strangers literally all day everyday hahahaha. We just thought that it was funny. But he wants to be taught by the Elders, so we passed him over to them :)

I think this week I learned the importance of time management. Literally every minute can be used wisely. I'm not sure where all this extra energy I have lately is coming from, but I love it! We are getting so much done here and we are loving it!! But, I am definitely not forgetting to enjoy myself here either. I just realized... I said last week that I would talk about a Spanish woman we were going to help take to the hospital. I guess that will have to wait for next week. I don't want this to get too long. I love you all so much! You can succeed in anything if you really put your mind to it! This week we have been asking ourselves, "What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?" Then we have been working on doing it! Again, I love you all so much! Be good!

-Hermana Clark :)

ps- My companion and I planned a giant scavenger hunt for about 28 missionaries in the Barcelona zone today in Las Ramblas. It was sooooo fun!!!

Finally some Spaniards!

This week was incredible!!!!! To start off, yesterday we met with a man and his family. He is from Ecuador and his wife is a Spaniard here from Catalunya! And she believes in God!!!!! It's incredible!!! I haven't been able to teach many Spaniards on my mission, so I am so excited!!!! Actually, we have started teaching two Spaniards!!! The other one is the boyfriend of a member here. Spaniards for the WIN!!! Anyways, they are both adorable families and the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to bless them so much! I can't wait!

It has been raining a lot here. Like seriously. A whole flipping lot haha. It is either kinda hot, or rainy these days. But anyways, yesterday night the husband of one of the women that we are teaching made us the BEST fish I have ever had in my whole life. I didn't even know that it was fish! hahaha This family is from Africa and they are going to make us some type of food with a peanut sauce next week, we can't wait!! I seriously love trying all of the foods! hahaha

Tourist season is picking up here. It puts such a fun energy in the air! I am loving it! But sometimes I feel like I am on vacation instead of a missionary haha. I really am so blessed though to be living in such a beautiful city. If I could pick a big city to live in, Barcelona would probably be it! I especially do love the older sections. Because there are so many tourists out, a lot of people play the Spanish guitar in the metro and outside for money. I love it!!! It makes everything feel so dreamy! I really do love Spain so much!!

I hope everyone is doing well back home! I miss ya! And I love ya! Be good!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- We are taking a member to the hospital next week to help her out. She is the most sarcastic, old Spanish woman that I have ever met! I love her so much!

Well, yup.

I am constantly thinking throughout the week, "I need to remember this to write about later!" But I can never remember what it is when I get around to writing haha. I do remember though that we were running around a lot. Literally running. We do that a lot, actually. I am already aware that we look so ridiculous jogging around in skirts and dresses haha. We get so many weird looks and rude comments. But I honestly do not even care. I will NEVER get the chance to run around as a missionary of Jesus Christ ever again. I will be able to serve in different capacities, but I will never be able to do exactly this ever again. And I will miss it. Because I love it. So much. I love being able to testify that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, and that through repentance, people really can change and be better. That's all repentance is really about. It's changing.

I decided the other day that I am tired and exhausted of getting in my own way. I need to get out of my own way and just go! I need to overcome my fears! I still have soooo many haha. I don't ever want to stop progressing and becoming a better person. It makes me so happy!

We are teaching a boy whose father passed away when he was younger. He became very angry and short-tempered. I love the opportunity that I have to help him rely on Jesus Christ to change his life. It works. It really does work. I promise! Cause I've tried.

In other news, I ran into the cupboard a couple of more times this week haha. There are already so many tourists here in Barcelona. I got my official release date from the misison office today. August 7th. My plane tickets will be bought in the next couple of weeks. And I just don't want to go home, yet. Lucky for me I still have lots of time! :) I love you all so much! Keep pushing forward! Don't give up! Have courage and be kind!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- My companion is obsessed with icecream, and in the last week we have probably eaten icecream 7 or 8 times... It's bad hahaha

Sneaky cupboard

I was in the kitchen talking to my companion, and I was particularly paying attention where I was going, and I ran right smack into the kitchen cupboard with my head hahaha. It was so sneaky! I mean, it just jumped right out at me! Haha It left a good red mark for a bit haha.

This weekend was Easter in which we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. There is a very famous cathedral in my area called The Sagrada Familia. Every night for about a week they were doing these light shows on one end of the cathedral. It basically with through Jesus's adult life, crucifiction, death, and resurrection. It was definitely an experience that I doubt I will ever have again! It was very pretty, but also very dramatic.

This week we have been able to teach many lessons to a few of our friends who are preparing to be baptized this month! I love helping and watching their progression. They are preparing to make the most important first covenant/promise with God. They are going to be eternally blessed. But that doesn't mean that the road after baptism is easy, it's still hard. But they are promised to have even more help with them :)

Sorry that this is a shorter email. I don't have much time. We are taking out some brand new missionaries again! :) Oh, I should mention, transfers happened, but my companion and I are staying together in Barcelona for another 6 weeks! It is likely that I will be leaving Barcelona when these weeks are up. But we'll see :)

I love you all so much! I promise that you can do hard things! I believe in you! And I am praying for you, too :)

-Hermana Clark

Ps- I am loving being back to wearing sandals every day again!! Spring is here!!! 

Dry feet

Well it rained a bunch this week. Luckily, I bought some really nice boots before coming on the mission. So my feet have always been dry. :) It's really starting to warm up here, and I am loooooving it! Also, I apologize if I repeat things over the weeks. I can't remember what I have and haven't said anymore haha. Things tend to blur together lately... People just tell me it's cause I'm getting "old" in the mission. But whatever haha. I swear I just got to the mission yesterday!

So we are teaching two people in particular who have decided to get baptized next month on my birthday! I'm hoping that I will still be here in Barcelona, because next week are transfers. So it is possible that I could be leaving. But I would looooove to stay! We have worked so hard with these people. I have been blessed to see their progress from the beginning. The gospel of Jesus Christ, when applied and lived, really does change lives. Christ can literally do anything. But we don't get anything in this life if we don't work for it. This applies in everything. Work, school, church, everything. Be the best at whatever it is you want to be. Become something. To me it makes sense that our Heavenly Father is going to make us work for things. What perfect father would teach us to be lazy or idle? He wouldn't. Because He is perfect.

Anyways, please just do good and be good. I'm so grateful that God asked me to serve a mission, and even more grateful that I said yes. That I would go and serve. I have learned so much. The mission is way harder that I expected, but for different reasons. I am always having to remind myself that my circumstances don't define who I am, but that I don't want them to either. I decide who I am. Well, I love you all so much! Keep plugging along in life!

-Hermanita Clark :)

Ps- Spaniards are very direct and straight-forward. It's stinkin hilarious! I really love Spaniards so much. I have learned so much from them :)

Some Casual Watermelon

I learned how to make a Spanish food called Tortilla de Patata the other day. I'm not sure if I have ever talked about Tortilla de Patata before... Well, first off, it doesn't involve tortillas. At all haha. It basically looks like a round cake of potatoes and eggs and stuff. But it's not really "eggy" either. It's hard to explain. But I really love it :) I want it to be a normal food for my future kids one day.

We were walking in the street and there were four little kids in front of us about the age of 9 or so. It was really, really windy. These kids had unzipped their coats and were using them as pretend parachutes. It made me giggle because I thought of when I was little and my brother Cade and I used to tie sheets on our ankles and wrists and then we would jump on the trampoline.

We met a man in a fruteria (fruit store) last week. We were just casually looking for some watermelon, and now we are teaching him. He's from Peru and wasn't necessarily looking to join a church, but I love helping him resolve his questions and stuff. I love watching people progress and learn. I think I will miss being a missionary one day :)

I love you all sooooo much! You are always in my prayers :) Don't take the little things for granted! Life goes by way too fast. Keep working hard and progressing, but don't forget to enjoy things :)

-Hermana Clark

Ps- Pride kills everything. Do everything you can to learn to be humble. I've been learning that a lot lately...

Mexican Soda

Does anyone know what the Mexican drink called Jarritos is? We were in a mall today and I saw a Mexican bar. I was just looking at it, cause you know, I miss my mom's Mexican food. I was looking at the lines of beers and drinks, and I noticed that there were a bunch of Jarritos lined up. Almost crying with excitment, I walked into that bar and bought a guava flavored one. I felt pretty successful and happy. Except, I still haven't been able to drink it because I don't have a bottle opener haha. So, I guess I was half-successful haha.

I was sitting in church yesterday listening to the speaker, and he asked the congregation if we were willing to give our lives for Jesus Christ. It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but a little girl a few seats down automatically raised her hand high into the air. Those of us around her started giggling at her cute response, but it made me think. How often do we think like this? "Sure, I'll give my life for Christ, but right now I am too busy with work to go to church." "I love my Savior, but I just can't afford to pay a full tithe." "I want to grow spiritually, but I need to finish my essay. So I can't go to the church devotional tonight." I want to be able to instantly raise my hand to offer my service and devotion to the Savior. I don't want to procrasatinate or hesitate. Idleness is a dangerous tool in the world. You feel mildly happy, but aren't really progressing. You're just there. And it's comfy. And it's worthless. Yes, I know that I am a missionary, and "church stuff" is literally my life 24/7. So I guess writing this paragraph here for all to see will help me be committed to it.

Today we just wandered around Barcelona and I really just loved it. I love Barcelona so much, but I have no desire to live the rest of my life in a big city. It's exhausting. But I really do love how I have come to love so many different people and cultures. Being in Spain has changed my life so much. Being a missionary has changed it even more. I just love to help people and serve them. It makes me so happy :) I will miss this one day, but lucky for me, I still have a good chunk of time left!! I love you all so much! Remember to enjoy the little victories. Do the right thing, and be nice to everybody :)

-Hermanita Clark

Ps- I have been walking in the streets without a coat on lately. It feels so good! I love Spring!!

All bout dat hairrr

I've decided that I want to take better care of my hair out here. The water in Catalunya and Valencia have basically wrecked it. So I've been drinking more water than normal, and have been doing some hair masks. It's a good time to be alive.

We have a woman that we are teaching, and she really wants to get baptized. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because her son was sick, so we had her watch a movie of Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Church. About an hour later we got a whatsapp message that every missionary wants. She told us that she wants to be baptized as soon as possible!!!! We were so excited because she really has a testimony and knows that this church is true.

I know that I say it all the time, but I really love being a missionary. It's crazy hard, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have learned so much. I have really been able to see the hand of God in my life. It helps me not to forget the good times when the bad times come. There will always be hard times, but I really just don't want them to drown out the good. I can't let them. Thinking about giving way to the bad stuff scares me. I just want to be happy.

My companion's hair got stuck in the metro door the other day. We laughed pretty dang hard haha. She only lost a little hair haha. It's been raining a ton here. It either feels like a nice spring day, or it's cold and raining. I'm really looking forward to the Spring. Although, it feels like just yesterday I was stepping on autumn leaves in Valencia. The time seriously goes by so fast. It hurts.

I love you all so much! Be good and do good things! God loves you! Work hard! Don't get down on yourself! Remember that there is a girl out here in Spain thinking about you!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- Literally everyone flipped out about the snow last week. Aparently it only snows in Barcelona every 8 years or so

I like strawberries

What a week! I can't remember a thing! hahaha Just kidding, but seriously, sometimes I am concerned that I am losing my marbles out here haha. Have I said that already? Probably. hehehe. Anyways, it has been snowing all day today! My companion and I went to the center of Barcelona and wandered around all of the old ruins in the pretty snow. We wanted to go into a pretty looking church, but it cost 7 euros. So yeah, I'll just watch a Rick Steve's Europe on it when I get home haha.

I was talking to some other missionaries the other day, and we were talking about how life is pretty darn hard. Like, it's really hard. It's scary and I want to run away, but I can't do that. I can't hide my head under the sand. I have to do what I have to do. Even if I can't see the end. That's when I have to push through in the darkness and use the faith that I have so carefully tried to nourish and grow.

We had a meeting the other day and we talked a lot about discouragement and how it is Satan's biggest tool. Satan will more often use discouragement instead of a temptation. It's a lot easier for him, and it works just the same. It was an interesting discussion.

Well, I'm a little short on time today. I love you all soooooo much! Enjoy the start of March! Also, special birthday shout out to Chad! Woot woot!

-Hermana Clark

Ps- Strawberries are coming back in season here! I'm soooo excited!

Somewhere in Time

I totally forgot to mention last week that for my one year mark, my companion woke up at like 4 in the morning, cut out a bunch of paper 1's and taped them on EVERYTHING. Literally everything. My chicken, my toothbrush, my popcorn, etc. We also burned a pair of my tights on the balcony. It was lit.

I just love being a missionary. I really do. I love teaching about Jesus Christ, and then watching people change their lives and draw closer to their Savior. Their countenance changes and they just become happier. I love the mission!!!! Yes, it is hard. I had no idea how hard. But there are a lot of things in life that are harder than the mission. And so I realized that I really want these hard experiences in the mission because they are preparing me for my life after the mission. Everything happens for a reason. God does everything with a purpose. But sometimes, we literally just have to buckle down, hold on, and wait it out. I can't afford to just run away at the first fleeting chance of fear or of failure. I need these hard experiences. They make us better. And God will always help us. Always.

Well, I've gotta run here pretty soon. I will taking out a brand-new, fresh out of the MTC missionary tonight. I love taking out the new missionaries :) They make me happy :) I love you all back home! Be good! Be kind! Be patient!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps-Hey Dad. I'm in the mission office right now, and the song "Somewhere in Time" is playing. Made me think of you. Love you :)

White Barcelona

A couple of Chileans treated me to some completos for my one year mark last week. I honestly thought that the word "completo" was made up. Completos are basically just over-the-top hotdogs. I thoroughly enjoyed myself by eating three. Speaking of eating, yesterday we got fed three time within 7 hours. One can only eat so much rice in one day. I was very concerned that I was going to throw up. But, good news: I didn't.

We are teaching a man from Gabon who only speaks French and Catalan. I know that the power of the spirit and the Book of Mormon is so real, because we have so many miscomunications. He came to watch a baptism on Saturday, and suddenly in his broken Spanish he asks me when he can get baptized. He loves reading the Book of Mormon and he told us that his little brother suddenly passed away last week. And so he wants to know what happens after we die. We should be meeting with him tomorrow, so I am suuuuper excited for that!

Yesterday we were sitting outside of a bar on the curb. (Restaurants and bars are the same thing here in Spain.) We were just doing some phone calls and sending some whatapp messages. Then a man from inside the bar sneezed really loud. So without thinking, I yelled, "Salud!" Which is the Spanish equivalent of "Bless you". Then the man yelled man, "Gracias!" We died laughing hahahaha. Sometimes I just remember that I am in Spain and so many weird things happen on a daily basis. I will never be able to do this again.

My companion is finishing her mission and goes home in a week. So I will be getting a new companion next week. I'm pretty curious to see who it will be! I hope all is well back home. Oh! I almost forgot! It snowed here in Barcelona on Thursday! Well, to me it was just hail. But all the Spaniards say that it was snow. Stuff was white for about 5 minutes. We were inside planning out our week.

Enjoy your week! Drink some hot chocolate! Have fun watching the Olympics! I personally love watching the pairs figure skating. Be good! Work hard!

-Hermanita Clark :)

Ps- I've kind of been getting into yoga lately. It's nice.

Dementia

Yesterday I found a tiny carton of icecream with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It was 6 euros, but soooooo worth it. Also, it was Ben & Jerry's. I really enjoyed it. It was like a little nugget of gold. And today one of the elders gave me his french fries. Tender blessings are real. I will admit that it is possible to bribe me with french fries and peanut butter cups.

I was thinking the other day about the human potential to create. We are creative beings. We have so much potential to do good and to be good. I want to create good things. I want to help others. I am really starting to see what God's plan for me is. It comes little by little. But I have to work to see it. We really do do the things in life that we want to do. I am so excited for the future. I have never been so excited before! I just love it! I have so many ideas!

On another note, this week we ate lunch with a woman from our ward who has a bit of dementia. She reminds me so much of a woman I took care of for about 8 months before the mission. Just the little things. The way she pats the dish cloth or repeats herself. The way she leaves her mouth hanging a little open. The way her retorts back a sassy answer. And the way that she loves me even though she has no idea who I am. I have so much love for her. I think I've come to love people even more since being on the mission.

I love Spain. I don't want to leave. But at the same time I miss home. It's an interesting feeling.

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps-I hit my one year mark in Spain. It's going too fast.

My mission got new areas

So our mission is getting bigger! Unfortunately, the Málaga Mission is being closed, but that means that we are getting the areas of Elche, Cartagena, and the Canary Islands. We will be absorbing 80 missionaries in July. It's pretty crazy!

I was able to do a bunch of traveling this week. I went to the areas of Sabadell and Terrassa. It's fun to see how the work of the Lord progresses everywhere. I also just enjoy traveling. And traveling on trains reminds me of when I was little and reading Harry Potter and how they travel to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. Childhood dreams coming true here. But unfortunately no one comes by with a trolley full of sweets.

I think one of my favorite things on the mission is to see how people can change. People really can change. I've seen it time after time. But I also know that change is so much easier with Jesus Christ. It's possible on your own, but it is so much harder. But even with Christ, we have to do our own part, too.

Is there snow back home? The seasons don't change here a whole bunch where I'm at. It just gets cold. I love you all so much. Please be good and safe. Don't do dumb things.

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I somehow sat in dog poop the other day... My mission president's wife saved me and gave me a skirt to borrow. 

My future kids

Wow. I can't even really remember what has happened this week. I'm losing my marbles haha. But I did get to go inside of the Sagrada Familia again for free today. So that was exciting. We also went and watched the sunrise at Park Güell. I just love being outside with nature and stuff. Makes me feel a bit at home. I miss the quiet. I have been in big cities my whole mission. I've come to love cities, but man, I really miss the quiet of the country.

I've been thinking about how much I have changed since I started my mission (almost 1 year ago, yikes...), and I really hope I have become a better person. I remember thinking when I first came out, that all I wanted was to be a good missionary. I just want to be a good missionary. I just want to be a good person. I just want to be a good mom someday. I've been realizing my potential and how much I had been under-selling myself. I can literally do anything if I work hard enough.

Well, we have seen so many miracles with the work here! We have been finding some amazing people. I love getting to know all of the people here. I really just love it. Not much time today. Be good! Be happy! Read a book or something :)

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- An elderly Spanish woman told my future with a pendulum and apparently I will be having four kids. Two girls and two boys.

I can't think of a title today, sorry

My goodness gracious so many things have happened. Leaving Valencia was sad, I have so many good friends there. I cried a lot. I said goodbye to my "Grandpa in Valencia" and that was sooo hard. He's been sick lately, and that was probably my last chance to see him alive. He has just taken care of the hermanas so much. When I walked away from him I just started to ball. I love him a lot.

I am loving the work here in Barcelona! I am actually only a few metro stops away from my first area of Hospitalet. And on Saturday we went to a baptism in the church, and a family from Hospitalet was there!! We just hugged and cried. I think I can officially say that I have become a crier on the mission, and I'm fine with that haha.

There are sooooo many Peruvians where I am at. I loooove it! I talk about Peruvian food all of the time! It's soooo fun! Anyways, I am super happy to be here in Barcelona, and I am hoping that I get to be here for a good while! My companion is just so wonderful and sweet. We are literally laughing all of the time. Unfortunately, she is finishing her mission next month. So I'm only gonna get one transfer here with her.

I hope you are all happy at home! Be good! Be safe! Be kind! I love you all!

-Hermana Clark

Ps- I've decided that since I'm in Catalunya, I want to try and actually learn Catalán.

Barcelona Baby

Well I have been moved out of Valencia and I am in Barcelona now! I did not realize how much I missed Barcelona and Catalunia. It feels so good to be back.

My area is in the center of Barcelona. I can see the Sagrada Familia from my study room window. I went from seeing the dolphin show from my window everyday in Valencia to seeing the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, so I don't mind haha.

Don't have a lot of time tonight, but just know that I am so excited to get working here in Barcelona! Saying goodbye to all my friends in Valencia was so hard and I cried a lot, but it is was a good sad. I will update you all on that later. I love you all!!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I think I will forever be a city missionary haha

Puppy

Not much time this week, but I was listening to a song today, and it said something like, "I didn't come here to earth to compromise." Don't forget your potential! Don't give up! Don't do things half way. You were put here on earth to succeed gloriously! Instead of trying to say something all poetic, I'm just gonna say don't be lazy.

I love the New Year!!! I've really come to love setting and reaching goals since I have been in the mission. About 9 months ago or so, Hermana Dayton taught us how to create our own personal mission statement. It took me a few months to make mine, but I want to revise it and change some things. My life is different now, so I need to edit it.

Anyways, be good. Eat some chocolate. Be happy. Don't be lazy. Read your scriptures. Enjoy the weather. Take a break and go to the pet store and look at the cats and dogs. (I love doing that.) Remember that Heavenly Father loves you. Don't forget that a young girl is out here in Spain praying for you and rooting for you. I love you!

-Hermana Clark :)

Ps- I got to hold a really cute puppy. It was like holding a puffy cloud of happiness.