6 weeks to go!!

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!!!

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!!

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!!

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

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.