Hello All,                                                                                                               May 20, 2013

I'm very sad to hear that Sister Monson passed away.  That is really hard and I will be praying for President Monson.  

I was orphaned this week.   Our training is 12 weeks and transfers are every 6 weeks so half way through there is a possibility of getting a new “dad”.   My trainer was promoted to Zone Leader.  My new companion is a good guy.  He works hard and contacts everyone!  He talks to everyone on the street.   It was a hard adjustment for me because technically I'm still a greenie being trained but I'm also like a senior companion because I take the lead in the lessons,  planning,  and I lead us everywhere and carry the phone and everything because I know the area and people. I was really scared because I didn't feel ready for all that and I didn't feel like I knew our area,  but I have been praying for guidance and the Lord has blessed me.  That doesn't mean I haven't gotten us a little turned around sometimes... haha it's all good though.

I like our new district; we get along and have a lot of fun.   We did get to make the 4 hour travel to Accra on Wednesday to pick up our new companions.  It was most likely the last time I will see that mission home.  It was pretty crazy going back to the city.  It’s crazy how spending 2 months in the bush will change your perspective on things.  Being in the city is nice, but I like Oda.

We finally got the people to come and dig the well so hopefully things will be better.  It was interesting to see them dig it. Being from America I was expecting a truck to come and drill it. Silly me. They came and just lowered a guy down in there with a rope and then lowered him a bucket and a shovel.   Mom would probably die if she had to go in there.

So the work is pressing on.  Our hard work is paying off and we have tons of investigators and people who are interested in the church.

It's been raining here more which is good and bad.  It makes it much cooler but more humid.  When it rains we don't usually go out because nobody talks to us.  When it rains the power is out and when the power is gone everyone turns off their phones and has less desire to talk to us.  We only had one day like that this week but we are just starting the rainy season this week.

Thanks for the emails, I love them.

Much Love,

Elder Clark

May 6, 2013

 
Hey all!

Is it May already?? How did that happen? Hannah what you said is so true. The days do feel like weeks and the weeks do feel like days. Except for last week the days felt like weeks and the week felt like a month. It was a LONG week. This week is going to be even longer.

Elder John and I worked like crazy last week. I went on splits with Elder Ditzler on Friday.  We did a lot of walking, like lots of miles on Friday haha.  We have 17 new investigators this week from finding and we got 7 referrals we have to contact next week. 2 of our new investigators surprised us and came to church on Sunday. It was so good.  They had the sacrament then announced they were going to watch the Sunday morning conference session. I was super excited to be able to watch it. It came on and I saw the SLC Temple and got a little homesick but then they started talking...... in Twi. We held an impromptu investigators class that went really well.  We went to the Branch President's house that evening like we do every week for dinner and we were able to watch the session in English.

This week is going to be super busy because we have to contact all those people and we lose Tuesday because we are traveling to Kade for Zone Training again. I guess it happens every month. We also have a baptism service Saturday morning. It's going to be busy but that’s good, the work is going forward.

Hannah! How is life back as a normal person?   I hope you have a great time, try not to sleep in too much. 6:30 is a good time to get up. Some mornings I just want to sleep in. Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying. What's next? And don't say getting married because if you get married while I'm gone I’ll be mad.

I heard about Coleson getting his call to Sierra Leon. That's crazy!  He's going to the Ghana MTC too which is sweet. I heard that Cardston got his call to Accra too. That’s nuts!

I'm now almost half way through my training, its going well. Hannah how long was your training, mine is 12 weeks but we are only in the MTC for 2 weeks. The training is going well. I still have some language issues. I can understand their accents pretty well but they can't understand mine.  Something I am trying to work on, I don't know how to make that any better.

My favorite food here is red red. It’s just refried beans with red oil and fried plantains. It’s SO good. I also really like watchi. That’s bean with rice and some spices and stuff. They are both good. As for the flan you guys had we by custard powder here and I really like it. It’s pretty much just pudding so I guess l like pudding now??  I just like sugar.  

Anyway, Ghana is awesome I love it here and I love the work. I do my best to be the best missionary I can be. I am becoming much better but I still have a long way to go. I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Clark