Chris' Mission Blog!!

My Last week on the mission!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:25:00 +0000

Well, my last week on the mission was just as good as the first one, we were able to work a ton and god blessed us with success, we were lucky enough to find this family, Rosalia (mom), Krisnara and Esdras. The way this family was found happened like this, about 1 month ago Rosalia's son was killed in a motorcycle accident. At the time the missionaries were teaching her neighbor Socorro, Socorro is Rosalia's best friend, and she sent the missionaries over to her house to explain the Plan of Salvation to her, because she was so upset about everybody telling her that her son was in different places.. We taught her all the lessons and she was able to visit the church she told us that she felt a peace inside of her as she sat through the sacrament meeting. after 2 more weeks of teaching her she felt a strong desire to be baptized, i was lucky enough to be able to baptize this marvelous family my very last day on the mission! I have already called them and they were all Confirmed members of the church the following week, and super excited about their future in the church. Rosalia cannot wait to go to the temple for the first time! Here is a picture of their baptisms!!

Elder Brandelero, Krisnara, Esdras, Rosalia, ME

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:45:00 +0000

IM HOME!!! and for lack of words to describe just exactly how i am feeling i will just send these last photos.... next week i will post the rest of the photos i have of my baptisms these last 2 weeks then i will most likely be closing Elderclark.com or at least getting rid of the mailing list, so yeah, thanks to everybody who gave me so much love and support while i was serving in Brasil, i love every single one of you!... so yeah, now im off to enjoy the life of a returned missionary... wish me luck ;) enjoy the pics

Getting off the tiny airplane!!

Future missionary!!

Missed my grandma a LOT

My mommy!!!!!

the family!!

Elder Clarks "FAM-CLUB"

So Batiza grandma!!!

This is better than graduating highschool

My Pleasant grove family

Thanks for the homecoming family!!!

Who knew garbage day was so exciting??

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:19:00 +0000

Ps. our house is that blue house up top behind the truck

This past week in Nova Descoberta (the town we live in) While a garbage truck was turning onto our street something CRAZY happened, the ground opened up and ATE the garbage truck... many people ran to see what was going on, the national news was even there to cover the story, it took many many hours to pull the truck out, but when it was finally freed the crowd clapped and cheered!!! haha here are some pictures!!!

who would have thought a hole in the ground was national news

aprovating a great picture oportunity

SBT interviewing.... WE HAD THE SAME IDEA!!!

Just making matters worse

WATCH OUR VIDEO WE MADE... its funnier when you understand portugues... but still... funny

NEW STAKE CENTER!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:56:00 +0000

hey folks,

baptisms of narra and rubia

well finally its here, we have had the OPEN HOUSE of our new stake center this whole week, we have been handing out flyers and inviting people to visit the open house, i have even developed a nasty sunburn, but it was all worth it, we had over 250 visiters and tons and tons of people interested in the church. here it what went down... so anybody who showed up at the church would sit and watch a short movie about the church while more people came, then they would form a group and a guide would be assigned, this guide then took them on a TOUR of the church, stopping in each of the rooms where there was somebody prepared with a short 5 min explination about what happenes in that room.. ex: YMYW Elders, RS, primary, geneologia etc.... it was awesome... then at the end, us missionarys would talk with them about any doubts they had and we would write down their address so that we could visit them and bring them the book of mormon.
not only the open house was a success but also in the field, this week we had 2 baptisms... while the WHOLE ZONE only had 3 baptisms, 2 of them were Narrara and Rubia baptised by yours truly... elder Clark! Rubia is a super super super super smart woman... she speaks chinese, english, french, portugues and she already has a degree in law and is finishing up her degree in Petrolium at the local university. she has already lived in many countrys and is currently working as a substitute JUDGE!!! yeah, so her story is pretty awesome! sunday she arrived 2 hours early to "prepare spiritually for her baptism" (my first baptism to do that) ps. rubia and narrara were the very first baptisms in the new stake center, and i was the first to baptise in the history of the building... i hope many many many more baptisms are to come!!!
here are some pictures of the events that have occured this week...

The best family EVER

The crew in front of the new stake center

This sister gets the award for best LUNCH EVER

Making new friends at the open house

The Best Email Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:04:00 +0000

Well.. today I received the best email ever. here is the flight plans for Elder Clark, YIPPEE!!:

5 Different flights, looks like it will be a long 24 hours for Elder Clark, but I'm sure it will "Fly By" (no pun intended)
P.S. Everybody is certainly invited to join us at the Flagstaff airport on June 29th at 2:51 when Elder Clark´s plane arrives I'm sure he is excited to see everybody!

6 weeks to go!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:32:00 +0000

Ladies and Gentelman,

Well lets see, like 6 weeks or 42 days, or the way we like to count it is, "just six sacrament cups" are what are left of this GREAT ADVENTURE. This past week passed by in a flash! (along with our money) but anyways, we baptised Juliana! she has 20 years and she already had a mother and sister in the church but for some reason she just never felt the need to be baptised, that is until Elder L. Silva and I arrived and laid it on thick (the spirit that is) and she finally saw the absolute NEED to be baptised and yeah, it was great. this next week we are also preparing a lovely family to be baptised, if everything goes well we will baptise first the husband then the wife, because she has to go visit some family in another city. but anyway so yeah, that is about it, we also have like 15 other investigators, but if i told you about each one i would have to stay all day here in the lan house, and thats just not possible. so i dont really know what to talk about so i will just talk about some interesting things that happen here in brasil.....
#1. Line Cutting: If you are not a good line cutter you will never have success here in brazil. To be a good line cutter i have learned a few tips and tricks that i would like to pass on to you.... here in brazil,,, there are lines everywhere (exactly like disneyland)... line to use the bathroom, line in the bank, postoffice, line to buy bread, line to pay for the bread that you just bought standing in line... and so on... i will just share with you the technique that works best... i call it... the cell phone using this technique you pretend to call somebody on your cellphone as you approach the line... you then begin talking to your imaginary friend on the cellphone, you then cut into the line.... the people here will let it pass because they dont want to "interrupt" your phone call!! us missionaries use this one a lot when we dont want to waste our lunch hour standing in line at the grocery store. :)
#2. BEING BLUNT: Another reason why i love the people here in brazil is because of the option of being really blunt when you speak with someone. for example, us missionaries, when we stop people in the streets and we start our conversation with "have you already been baptised like jesus christ?" IMAGINE if somebody asked somebody from california who isnt a member this.... they would probably just start to call you names or make fun of your mother. another example, is when you are ordering our buying things here in brazil... you dont need to say... "Um excuse me i would llike to have a bigmac" here you say "DUDE GIVE me a big mac" which is great, it makes for some great conversations and you dont need to be shy. because everybody is blunt, and you can be too!!

so yeah, for now thats all i have, i have to go now because time does not allow me continue... this week is going to be a great week, my companion will reach the one year point of his mission on the 21st and then on the 22nd i will reach the 21 year mark of my life... so yeah... happy birthday to me :D and then sunday we are going to baptise.... so yeah i cant think of a better week

my love
THE CLARK

7 WEEKS LEFT!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:32:00 +0000

well, first of all, hello to everybody,

The Bus we ride every day

Well im here in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte Brasil!! I love it here in Natal, there are many beautiful sights to see and many people willing to accept the gospel. I am currently with my companion Elder L. Silva who by the way is the greatest companion that i have ever had (and currently holds the record of baptising 21 people in just one week). We are with our hands full here in the Pirangi Ward. Unfortunatly where are church building is located we have to bring all of our investigators by use of Public Transportation.
So its hard to get lots of people excited to go to church when they have to spend like 8 bucks to go, and not to mention waking up early in the morning just to catch the bus. but even with all the problems and struggles, the work of the Lord continues onward. We are currently working with the family of MIKE, who is an american who married with a woman here from brazil, now he works managing the money in a company international here in Natal. Mike has already read the book of mormon cover to cover and this past week we heard him say "So if i know the Book of Mormon is true, then i know everything else is true too, right?" i responded "YES FINALLY, LETS BE BAPTISED TODAY!!!!" but my companion said to me, "Elder Clark, he has yet to visit the church", so we marked his baptism for next week, this week he will attend the Stake Conference and next week will be his baptism! which is great (i always wanted to baptise an american)... they dont come along easily.
The mission is going through many changes as President Fernandes will be leaving and President Hall will be arriving in the next transfer. Yesterday i was in the bustation welcoming the new elders that were arriving here in Natal, i was able to calm down the NOOBIES (new americans) also, helping them get something to eat and showing them around and explaining to them how their first day would be..... man i wish somebody had done this for me... but oh well. We live with elder Dzicovikz and elder Pujol, they are two guys from the south of brazil, they are super cool we all are getting along quite nicely.

baptism card

So the other day i was walking down the street when a two men were coming in the opposite direction, one of the guys stopped us and asked "Your the Mormons right?" my companion said "Yeah thats us" and the guy asked "What do you guys do?" My companion responded "We help people to be baptised like jesus christ" and my companion pulled out or "BAPTISM CARD" Which contains the picture of jesus being baptised by john the baptist.. pictured here.
when my companion said those words the guy started screaming and shouting things like "You Cant go around changing what was writting by the prophets!! you cant change the baptism of Jesus Christ to match your religion, only the CATHOLIC CHURCH baptises correctly" So yeah, needless to say he left us there standing emotionless, wondering how we are going to respond, but he said "Dont even bother answering, i dont want to hear your lies..... BRAINWASHERS!" and before i knew it he had turned the corner and left me and my companion standing scratching our heads in the middle of the street. Later that day i saw a poster taped to a bus stop saying THE TRUE BAPTISMS OF CHRIST with a picture somewhat like this one


The true baptism of christ

So yeah, thats just one of the crazy spiritual things that has happened to me as a missionary. i think next week ill share another.... that is... if your lucky
love you all. i hope you all know that this is like your last chance to send letters, packages and... *cough* *cough*... Cash. Soon i will 21 as well here on the 22 of May, so yeah, should be a great month, full of baptisms, Miracles and experiences!
all my love

Elder Clark

The Final Stretch!!

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Clark) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:16:00 +0000

Well... Hey everybody... its me Elder Clark, im on my home stretch,, we have about 3 months until the highly anticipated return of Elder Clark. Im pretty excited as you can tell.. i am here in NATAL which is a city that is in the very northeast tip of brazil... its one of the biggest tourist citys. its kinda funny seeing all the americans completly lost here in brazi i have had several opportunities to help lost familys find the right bus or taxi. Well i am here with Elder L. Silva... here is us baptising 2 families... which is a very good thing... it was the first family of elder L. Silva so we were super stoked to have 2 ready for baptism... its an overwhelming feeling of joy when you baptise somebody that you know has such a strong testimony and is preparing to be sealed in the temple! so yeah here is the picture

Baptism of Maria e Michilene

So yeah the work here is going great, Elder L. Silva and I get a long great and we are living with Elder Santana and Elder Dzicovics i am the oldest (speaking of mission time) in the house.. but yeah that doesnt automaticly mean anything... i still have to sleep on the floor... the only bed goes to the guy who has the most transfers in the house... which is my companion... but at least my situation is better than Elder Santana who is sleeping on the floor... maybe one day the pres will send a matress... but i dout it. The house is small but we all get along great, Me and Elder Santana Cook and the other two are in charge of clean up... we are always cooking because in the area we dont have very many people who feed the elders. also we have to spend tons of money on busses so usually its a lot cheaper to stay at home and eat a beef steak and frenchfries with some rice! here is a picture of us making lunch.

elder clark frying the patatoes and l. silva on the steaks

so as you can tell... everything is great! being the final stretch i will try to take more pictures and show everybody the REAL side of life as a missionary... as for now we are off to teach a family that just speaks english... so yeah the pressure is on.. i gave the 1st lesson in english and he said he would read the book of mormon...i tried to call him already to the baptism waters but his friend (who is a member) told me i was being to agressive.... i said MAN BAPTISM IS FREAKING IMPORTANT ;) so yeah today we will teach him without the friend present.... ready or not... here comes elder clark

Ch-ch-ch-changes!!

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:33:00 +0000

Elder Clark - Welcome to Natal....

Due to a Mid-Transfer, Transfer, Elder Clark is now serving in Pirangi which is in Natal

This is the Apartment building where one of Elder Clark's new investigators lives - it is right on the beach....

Yep, this beach...Pretty huh?!

It is a very different place than anywhere else Elder Clark has served...He said that it is a beautiful city that is clean and nice. His new companion is Elder L. Silva. Elder Clark is excited about being able to teach this new investigator as he is an American and it will be his first experience teaching in English!! I can't wait to get more pictures....

New Member in Brasil

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:57:00 +0000

Jailson - Baptismo número cem

Elder Clark has had the opportunity to be a part of much growth in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Brasil over the past seventeen months. He is still happy and excited about the opportunities he is having as he gets to know, love and teach the people of Brasil.

Elders; Veras, Stacy, Clark and Dorneles cooling off on the rooftop after performing some good acts of service.

Today was transfer day and Elder Clark was to get a new companion...Elder Richard.

2010

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 03:15:00 +0000

HAPPY NEW YEAR

New Year's Eve in Brasil

Elder Clark is excited to see another New Year in Brasil.....2010

Another Christmas in Brasil

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:12:00 +0000

This Christmas marks the second and final Christmas that Elder Clark will spend in Brasil....

We got to talk with him and he is doing great and is excited to finish up his remaining seven months sharing the Gospel with as many people as possible.

As we talked with Elder Clark we told him how very cold it was here(single digits) and he proceeded to tell us that it was at least 150 degrees there and that he was sweating like no other!! Merry Christmas to him(haha). We pray that his last 7 months will be his best months in Brasil!!

Transfer

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:53:00 +0000

I thought that before too much more time passes I better update Elder Clark's blog.....

At the end of November Chris was transfered to a new city - Guarabira. He was very excited to move on and see a new area. He had been in the same location for nine months. He also has a new companion and his name is Elder Dorneles. Chris says that they have a lot in common and that this will be one of the best companions he has had on the mission and that says a lot because he has loved most all of them....They are looking forward to this new area. The area only has a branch, it is a very large area and there are three companionships working in the area. They are hoping to grow the area enough to warrant the start of a "real" ward house, where as now they just meet in a rented space...

I can't tell you all how excited we are to get to talk to Chris in just two short weeks!!!!! This is Chris' final Christmas in Brazil.....remember, he would really love a letter. They live for mail~! Merry Christmas to you all~!

15 months!!

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:19:00 +0000

Elder Clark has now been out for over 15 months..He was blessed with 3 baptisms this past weekend....He and his companion Elder A.Santos are working diligently...

Ramon, Vitoria and Pedro

Elder Clark has also had the Opportunity to baptize Vitoria's Mother, brother and sisters. What an honor to be in Rangel long enough(8 months) to see them all enter the waters of baptism.....

The week of Thanksgiving will be transfers and we will see if Elder Clark will be spending the holidays in a new area......stay tuned!!

Final October Update

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:24:00 +0000

I received a great letter today from Elder Clark and he is doing great. He is feeling good and being blessed. I just wanted to share this photo of Elder Clark as he lounges on his bed..(I asked him to take this picture so I could see his hammock)

I told him that it looked pretty comfortable unless you were a stomach sleeper and here is his reply:

"haha yeah, my bed is great, except for the nights i wake up soaked by the rain... but it doesn't happen that often. maybe once a week or so."

Kind of makes me wonder what his first night at home in his own bed will be like for him after two years...will he sleep like a baby or not sleep at all??

New Trainee/Old Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:50:00 +0000

It was a good end to Elder Clark's last week of this transfer...

Ana Claudia

Neto

Elder Clark will remain in Rangel (haun-gel) for another six weeks and is now a Trainer, his first Trainee is Elder A.Santos. In this picture is also Elder Pacheco who was Chris's Trainer.

This next picture just makes me smile..........This past week was transfers and all the elders were at the bus station either going, coming or just seeing who was going and coming. This is Elder Tanner Gilliland who is our Bishop's son and a friend of Chris' that was also called to the Brazil Joao Pessoa Mission!! He is fresh out of the CTM and on his way to his first area...They were able to spend just a few minutes together at the bus station...how cool was that for them to see a friend so very far from home. We hope they will have other opportunities to see one another as their missions go forward.

Elders Gilliland and Clark - Walnut Canyon Ward

Still Loving Brazil

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:49:00 +0000

Elder Clark is still finding joy in his service to the Lord. He is baptising and teaching and loving the people of Brazil. Here are some pics of the newest members of his ward :)

Andreaza

Lucas

This is a picture Chris titled.....My Road Most Traveled.....

This week is transfer week and we will see if Chris will stay in Rangel a little longer or move to somewhere new....either way he is healthy and happy.

Elder Clark

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:39:00 +0000

My goodness it has been a long time since I updated this blog....Elder Clark is doing GREAT!!

He is currently still in Rangel (haun-gel). He is doing very well and having wonderful experiences. Here are a few recent pictures:

His Zone

Elder Gomes

Elder Martinez

The Elders were visiting a science center.

365

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:54:00 +0000

365 Days~!

Yippee!!!!! Happy "Hump" Day~!

Well, Elder Clark has been in Brazil for exactly 365 days today and I couldn't be happier, mainly because now we can begin counting our days DOWN instead of up!! Chris has had many amazing experiences this first year and I know he is happy and very much looking forward to his second year there in Brazil. He loves the people and the work. He is very comfortable with the language.(He emailed some small video clips to us and he has a very difficult time these days with his English). I think that is amazing and I love to listen to him talk!! He is truly being blessed and watched over by our Heavenly Father. Don't let the picture above confuse you......this was a very "special" day celebrating his year mark. They DO NOT normally eat at places this nice but I am glad there was somewhere they could celebrate this milestone. Please continue to keep Elder Clark in your prayers and if you have not yet written to him he would soooooo love to hear from you. He loves letters. Here's praying for another 365 days of blessings both for him and the people of Brazil~!

Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:23:00 +0000

I was fortunate enough to get to talk (email) with Elder Clark TWICE this week. This in itself brought me great happiness. But the greatest happiness came at the end of one of those conversations when Elder Clark told me to tell EVERYONE(that's you) hello and that he misses them and then he said to tell everyone that he is happier than he has ever been in his entire life~! I worry about him and miss him so much that to hear him say that gives this mom great happiness....I call that a tender mercy. Just 14 days and he hits his One year mark, very exciting~!

Can you believe this view he has of the sunset each night..........

More Happiness...

Edna

Daisy

Lucileine

Sayara, Sayonara, Angela

John

McCelebration

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:06:00 +0000

Elder Clark had a real McCelebration today for his 11 month mark. I know... most of us do not think of "Celebration" and "McDonalds" in the same sentence but when your a missionary in Brazil the two go together just great!! McDonalds there is a bit (ok, a lot) more expensive than here and it is AIR CONDITIONED!!

It was a good week for Elder Clark and Elder Goncalves. They were able to baptise Alex and Ana Karolina.

We are excited and hope that the next four weeks will be a wonderful end to Elder Clark's first year..

Oh the Joy~!

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:38:00 +0000

Sunset in Brazil

There were baptisms in Brazil!!

Humberto (with family)

Natan & Natalia(brother & sister)

Mercia and Andressa(friends)

Update

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:30:00 +0000

Well, transfers have come and gone and Elder Clark stayed in Rangel(haun-gell) but has a new companion, his name is Elder Gonçalves. Their first week together went very well. They had a baptism and are currently teaching many others with high hopes for many more baptisms....

This was the baptism of Ana Fernanda.

Recently I think Elder Clark has come to understand what they mean when they say, "the best two years, but the hardest two years". We are very proud of the way Christopher is handling the tough times as well as the times of joy. Thank you all for your continued support. Don't forget that he will have his one year mark on the 6th of August so get those "hump day" letters ready to mail!!

Turning 20

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Elder Clark turns 20!!

Thank heaven for the Elders that made him a cake and sang him "Happy Birthday"

And also the sweet vendor lady who gave him "two" acaii drinks instead of one!! So Kind!

It may not have been a birthday as usual but despite the incredible amounts of rain and work, work, work, at least he still had a good day and a smile on his face.....

FELIZ ANIVERSARIO!!!!!!!!! ELDER CLARK

noreply@blogger.com (Leslie) — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:30:00 +0000

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER~!

We are proud of the way you are serving your Father in Heaven. We miss you and we love you.

Here at home, we are wishing you a very happy birthday day in Brazil. ENJOY~!

Love,

Mom, Dad and Justin