Week #27

Hi mom

It was really cold. I still can't feel my toes. I'm pretty sure I won't ever be warm until July. It snowed 3 times this week and it's snowing today. This winter is already worse than last year, everyone says. But every time I'm cold I just think of Robert in the -40 weather and then I don't feel as bad. We had a really great lesson with Kelly and John on Tuesday. Kelly has zero faith and John is Catholic but they still have a lot of questions about religion. We read Alma 34 with her, which is basically a step by step process on how to gain faith. We bore our testimonies and even told her about the restoration because both her and John were curious. We asked her how she was feeling and she started to cry. She said she feels lost and like she's missed out because we're so passionate. It was so great! That means she was totally feeling the spirit. The spirit was really strong in that home and I told her that she's not lost anymore and she's going to gain that faith and Heavenly Father is there for her and he loves her because we love her and we've only met her like 2 times! And she cuts hair so we're going to have her cut our hair.

We didn't have a ton of success this week but we made a lot of progress with investigators and potentials. Matt and Jill came to the Christmas party! And they loved it! And they brought their kids. I sang and it was good... I think. And we showed Matt and Jill the chapel and there were people practicing a song for church so the spirit was there and their kids just went and sat and listened. I have never felt so much peace in the chapel than when we were sitting in there listening to the music. Jill said that if their kids love the church, then they will definitely keep it in their minds because if their kids hate it then they just forget about it. Good thing their kids loved it! We were going to go sledding with them on Saturday but we didn't have time :(

Sister Jensen and Sister Johnson were here on exchanges Friday and Saturday. I wish Sister Jensen and I could be companions again because we would just destroy Huber Heights or whatever area we were in. We just get along so well and like to work! So Saturday morning it snowed A LOT. We bought shovels and shovelled peoples driveways. I smelled like a wet dog all day because it was super wet snow and then it rained. But we did 5 houses and it was awesome! I need to get some snow boots.

So since the snow turned to slush and the roads were tricky we did not have a baptism this weekend. Charnelle was about 40 minutes away at an ultrasound and said she wasn't going to make it. It was super stressful. We rescheduled for this coming Saturday at 11. It's kind of a blessing in disguise though because she's so accepting of everything we're not really sure how much she understands the commitment she's making. She's just kind of casual with everything. Oh and guess who decided to show up and surprise us at the baptism? President and Sister Nilsen. Super. I'm glad they came but really embarrassed that we had to postpone our baptism. Satan is working really hard so that we don't reach our goal of 500+ baptisms in the mission. And we haven't been able to get in contact with Charnelle since we rescheduled. She hasn't responded to our texts, calls, or answered her door. So if everyone could just pray really hard that would be helpful.

Oh also church was cancelled yesterday because nobody bothered to get the parking lot plowed Saturday night. All of the slush froze overnight and the parking lot was a disaster. The roads were fine, though. So we didn't have church. Never thought I would have to plan backups for church on my mission. We made cookies and took Sydney, who's going on a mission to Bolivia in February, with us to visit some investigators. Yesterday was a hard day but it ended well with us getting a new investigator, Dorothy, who has taken lessons from the missionaries before. She's really old and she's just so cute! We're going to help her put up her Christmas decorations this week. Oh and also Karen dropped us. But it's for the better because I think she thought we needed to be taught and she just would never listen. I don't think she'll accept the gospel in this life.

Well I'm really tired but I love this work and I know that it's true! Even with a tough week.

Love you!

Sister Clark