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!