The busy week

Hey everyone,

Well, it has been a busy week for us in the office. We had a mission tour with Elder Dube (Tim wore his new pink tie and said it was a big hit) Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and I had to be there on Wednesday for transfers and then there on Thursday because I am an office elder now. Being in the office is kind of crazy. We haven't been able to do much because neither I nor my companion has a license. We found out that my international drivers permit expired 2 weeks ago. So we have been trying to figure out what to do. On top of that we are moving the office to another location from one rented building to another rented building because we have no mission home still. So it’s been pretty busy and lots of stuff has been happening. I am in a new area. It's called Alajo. It's the same as opening a new area because it hasn't been proselyted in several months. So we have nothing to start with which is nothing new for me. President Hill's goal is for us to be in our area teaching for at least 51% of the time. He also wants us to be like lesser AP's (Assistants to the Mission President) and have us be a part of MLC (mission leader’s council) and have us conduct exchanges and go to different district council meetings. We've got a lot to do.

I went to the post office with Elder A. to get the mail and man was that a hassle. Please, never send a package in a box. The flat rate envelopes are so much better. The boxes all have to be opened in the customs and then we are charged a fee, it was a mess. It took about 4 hours. We get a lot of packages. Plus being an office elder we don't really get p day either. We still have to go and do all of our office work and stuff which is fun. We woke up extra early today to get our wash done so we could get to the new office to help move stuff.

We do get some perks though. Lots of A/C which is nice. We got pizza last Friday which was pretty cool. We get to go to the art market and other places like that too which is going to be really cool (that's where you get things like the nativity)

Fun facts about Accra, there are tons of bats here. Like tons. They fill the sky almost like in Batman. Not quite that much but you look at the trees and they are black with bats hanging from them.  Also driving here is absolutely nuts. I know I probably gave mom heart attacks back home but this place is crazy.  It's gonna be sweet.

But really that has been the bulk of my week. I'm kind of fried right now because a lot is going on but next week were should have everything shipshape.  So that's all I've got for the week. Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love,

Elder Clark

Well, I have some crazy news this week. So I don't know if this is how every mission goes but we have 2 office elders who are in charge of making sure all the missionaries have all the supplies they need and all sorts of other stuff. Last Friday I got a call from Sister W, the office senior couple, asking if I know how to drive stick, the office elders have a van they drive around. Then Saturday night we got a call from President Hill and he was just talking to me about pre-mission life. Said he saw I was from Star, Idaho, asked if I lived on a farm. No, but I kind of worked on one, Asked if I drove a pickup, yes he asked about that.  In short I'm the new office elder so I'll be driving again! I got released as a district leader and now I'll be with the missionary that was my 1st son (a missionary he trained) after I got transferred here to Buduburam. So I go on Wednesday. That was the major excitement for the week but definitely not all of it.

Another exciting part was that President Hill came for a visit again. We went to that University, KAAF, again. Set up some dates for the workshop we are trying to work on and got a room and dates for the fellowship group we are starting. I'm super excited for all that but I won't be able to see how it turns out. Oh, the joys of transfers.

We also went up to help the Hofmans on Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday was just the district and my companion and I spent the whole day "scraping." That is when you use a putty knife to go over the cement walls and get off any burrs or splatters or anything. The other guys were painting. Dad, you have no idea how many comments I've gotten on that orange shirt. Everyone tells me they love it.  Saturday we went up again with the Ward. We probably had 45 people there to help with the painting and everything. I spent the morning doing my good old fashion job of diggin' holes. I loved every minute of it. Even when my blisters had torn off and blood was starting to drip down the handle of the pick ax haha. A year of inactivity has made my hands a lot softer than I expected. My hands suffered. Made washing this morning rough; and shaking hands. Here they do this thing where after you shake as you pull away you snap the middle finger and my middle finger on my right hand has 3 blisters so when everyone was snapping my finger especially at Church, oh, oh that was painful. I wouldn't change it for the world though. I love diggin' holes. We got a lot done though. Really helped a lot with the project. Almost got the whole thing painted. Still a long way to go but hopefully they can get it done.  I think I would have done Byron proud. Still reaping the benefits of the Barker Correctional Facility for Troubled Youths. (For those not from Star, the Hofmans are some incredible friends that are building an orphanage in Ghana near where Tims was serving.  They have been so good to him taking him out for dinner and taking gifts from home to him. He has enjoyed getting to help a little on the orphanage.  To learn more check out their website at ghanamakeadifference.org)

The teaching is going well. We have some cool people we are teaching. One guy, we have been teaching for a while hasn't been coming to Church but he is so good. Every lesson we go to he has read his assignment, taken notes on it and prepared questions. Makes teaching so easy. But he walked in to Church about 30 minutes late and it made me so happy. He's a really great guy.

Well, I got the packages this week. So excited for the cheesecake!!! I was really surprised with the chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Betty Crocker is somewhat of a legend in the apartment, haha. We found a shop that has some of her snicker doodles and my companion bought all of them and also ate all of them. He gave me 1 or 2 and they were really good. So when I pulled my package and yelled "Betty Crocker?!?!" It cause a little bit of a commotion haha. Oh, and I LOVE the pink tie. I wear it with pride. It's my favorite tie by far. I'll wear it when we meet Elder Dube next week haha. Thanks so much!

Welp, that’s all for this week. I love you all! Have a Fantastic week!

Love
Elder Clark

Happy Birthday Elder Clark

Well, 2 decades have come and gone. You guys were right, felt just like a normal day. Didn't even really realize it was my birthday.  I celebrated by making some microwave brownies which aren't really like brownies but they do the job. I also made some Mexican Rice and Teriyaki chicken that was also microwaved. It was a pretty good meal.

My birthday present was the baptism yesterday. It went really well. They were so happy. We baptized a woman and her 11 year old son and then a Nigerian man who moved here a while ago. They are great people. The boy is a typical 11 year old, loves coming and riding on my bike with me. He just sits on the bar and I pedal and we have a good time. That gets people’s attention haha. At Church they were all confirmed and then the woman had to run off to go home to take care of her son. He's 19 and a year ago was paralyzed from the waist down and has some problems that she had to go and take care of. But we stopped by that afternoon to see how everything is going and I asked her how Church was and she was like "Awesome!" Exact words. She's great. Some of my favorite investigators. Absolutely wonderful people.

Oh, so I remember one of my favorite parts from our time with Elder Bednar. He was teaching us how we came to Earth to have our agency and we all understood that but the part we don’t understand is that when we make covenants, baptism, we give up that agency and yield our agency to God. When we choose to disobey those covenants we aren't just choosing wrong things we are breaking covenants. It blew my mind. It makes so much since though, the idea that we don't actually have agency because we gave it up for the blessing of being members of this Church is so logical yet spiritual.

We found out a fun fact in the camp this week too. All the roofs are just made out of the corrugated steel  and conduct electricity and with all the wires hanging down on the roof they get electrified and every now and then you see somebody get zapped. So now we always run around and touch the roofs. I haven't been shocked yet but I got shocked this morning by the outlet because I was trying to plug it in while my hands were all wet. That wasn't a good idea haha.

Nothing has happened yet with the Hofman's orphanage. We are going up there to help them on Wednesday for the morning and then we are going up with the Elders Quorum on Saturday. They are really working to get the Ward involved which is sweet. I can't wait for that. Another member found out I used to weld and said we could serve him at his shop and help him with some welding. I don’t know if that will be approved but one can hope. I miss working with my hands so bad; they only thing I get to do is wash my clothes haha.

Well, I'm trying to respond to personal emails from everyone so I'm gonna cut it short.  Love you all. Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Clark

Well, thanks for the birthday wishes. Year 19 of my life went by pretty fast. Excited for the big 20. Not much is going to happen though.  We will have some fun though. This week is gonna be super busy though.

 
Last week was great though.  Lately we have been having tons of adventures and last week was the best yet. Elder Bednar was incredible! He didn't really talk a ton he mostly just opened it up for a general question and answer session. At first he started by asking a few questions, I stood up and answered one. Oh man that was one of the scariest things I have done. Terrified me. But then he just guided a discussion. It was so cool. The single biggest thing that I learned from him is "one-by-one." The phrase is used just 6 times in the Book of Mormon but is so important. He told us how apostles go one by one. Than when they go to places they are always looking for just one or two people. When he came to Ghana he was just looking for a few people. I was amazed at how personal they are. The Spirit that was there while he said it was incredible.  Man, it was incredible..
 
I did see Wyatt and Cardson. Wyatt is doing great. I was super impressed. The Hofmans also came to Church on Sunday. Halle delivered the letters, thank you for those. Shelby C. was also there. It's strange seeing so many people from home here in Ghana. President Hill also came to Church to do some special interviews for us. Full house.
 
This week will be busy. The Hofmans are hoping to do a service project but it's also transfers. We need the zone leaders to come and do interviews and I have to go and do some interviews so it will be busy. We have a baptism on Saturday, we are planning on baptizing a several people we have been working with for a few months. That will be pretty fun. That about all I've got for this week. I love you all. Have a great week!

 

Love, 
Elder Clark

 

 

Friends from home serving in the Accra Mission