Week #6

 

Well my week was pretty awesome.

Tuesday night devotional was delivered by Elder Richard E. Hinckley. One of the sisters in my district is President Hinckley's great granddaughter so Richard Hinckley is her great uncle. Luckily, I was on an exchange for the choir with this sister and I got to meet Elder Hinckley and his wife! They are the sweetest people ever and he looks so much like President Hinckley. Ah it was the best! And his talk was awesome. After devotional we took the first MTC group photo in the Marriott EVER. I'm a true pioneer. It's pretty sweet.

 

Our district got to host on Wednesday which means we meet new missionaries at the curb and help them with their suitcases and getting their books and everything. I met a sister going to Spokane and a sister going to New Hampshire. And I hosted an international missionary. She was from Korea and didn't speak any English. I've never used my hands so much in my life! Haha she had no idea what I was saying most of the time. And I couldn't even tell her that I thought her outfit was cute. Which, it was. So sad. She was really overwhelmed, I could tell, so I just tried to reassure her about the MTC in any way I could. Also Wednesday my companion's brother joined us for dinner because he's a teacher at the MTC. I'm so glad she got to spend a little bit of time with him. 

 

Thursday we had in-field orientation. It was 8 1/2 hours! I was literally so exhausted at the end of the day. I've never been so tired in my life! And all we did was sit. It was draining but actually really helpful for preparing to go out into the field. Friday we learned how to street contact. I'm so awkward!! But the more I practiced the more comfortable I got and I actually found that I can say a lot more in Portuguese on the spot than I thought. It was a neat little experience. That night we got our reassignments and our teacher read them aloud to us one by one. We have 3 sisters going to New Jersey, one Elder going to Florida, one going to Texas, one to Las Vegas, and then the 3 elders going to Belem are going to Columbus with me! And then 2 elders, and 1 sister going to Brazil.

 

Sunday we sang in church because we were the leaving district and we sang Come Thou Fount. Our elders have come a long way. They sounded so good! I was so proud of them and every time we sang it for our teachers it just brought the spirit and we even made Irmao Cannon tear up. Oh I sliced my leg on a staple sticking out of a corner of a stage Sunday night. I had blood like gushing out of my leg. It was pretty nasty. It's a little sore still but healing quite nicely. Sunday night we watched the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO GO LOOK UP THIS TALK RIGHT NOW. It's seriously the best thing I've ever heard in my life and  it totally changed my view on everything I've ever done and has changed my life. Seriously, go watch it. You can't read it because it's not the same. We had one last district prayer all together after  watching that and the spirit was so strong in that room. I am so fortunate to know these missionaries. They are all so wonderful and going to be amazing!

 

Monday I put Sister Sender on a bus to Brazil. I was so sad to say goodbye to her! Sister Garner, my other comp, left early that morning so we said our goodbyes the night before. I'm going to miss them so much! So all of the sisters in my district left yesterday morning so I have this nice little solo sticker on my plaquetta. Basically it just means I can be in a room full of elders by myself. It was actually kind of fun being solo. And the elders took very good care of me yesterday. They waited to walk with me to meal times and waited for me to finish my food and held the doors open for me and they're just the sweetest group of young men I've ever met. I'm kind of glad I got a bit of time to just spend with them by myself. And there were only 7 of us left so we all sat in a circle for class. Leaving the MTC is bittersweet. I'm so excited but so sad to leave my fellow missionaries and my teachers! Sister Steinbiegle and I got to teach each other last night and we just asked each other questions, prepared a short message, and then taught each other by the spirit. I love helping people! Because even though I was teaching her as herself, I was still able to help her with something in her life. And she did the same for me. The number one thing she taught me is to listen with love.

 

I report bright and early tomorrow morning at 2:30. I cannot wait to get to Columbus!

 

Te amo

Sister Clark