Week 2

Well family, I conquered my second week as a missionary in New Jersey. I didn't think it was possible, but It was definitely better than my first week. Its seriously just so great here. I love West New York, and I LOVE the people here. Our monthly focus for the mission is love, so we have been really praying to have a charity and love for everyone. I can feel it every day. I can feel Christs love for me, and I can feel his love for the people that I come in contact with. Its really neat. I remember one day a couple of weeks after I got my mission call, I was at home thinking about what it would be like to be a missionary here in New Jersey. I remember posting something on facebook where I said that I was in love with a place that I had never been and with people I had never met. It is so awesome to be here now and think about that, because now I'm here, and I know the people, and I love them more than I ever thought was possible.

 

 

 Sister Martin and I saw so many miracles this week. Missionary work in and of its self is a miracle. We were talking about how it says in the scriptures that we will always be clothed and fed. THAT is so true. A couple of nights ago, it was like 8 o'clock and our appointment juked us, so we were just going to walk home. We hadn't eaten since lunch that day, so we were so hungry. Neither of us have any money. Ha Martins mission card is empty and I left my mission card in the van when we got dropped off in WNY, so the Union City sisters have it. Then, on top of having no money, we were basically out of groceries. We weren't really sure what we were going to eat. So we were walking down Bergenline then all of a sudden we here, "SISTERS!!", then we saw Sister Suarez, parked on the side of the road, she was in her car talking to a member named Saskia. She took us out to dinner, it was so sweet. Then we got another text from Hermana Cordova, saying to come by her home because she had groceries for us. Ha Suarez drove us to her house and she came out with this HUGE bag of groceries for us. It was the sweetest thing! The members here are the best. I am so thankful for them and all that they do for us. Today Hermana Suarez took us to do our laundry, she paid for our laundry, then she took us shopping too. It was so sweet of her. Its hard for us to get around because we don't have a car. We rely on her a lot and she is always willing to help. Shes the best!

 

I gave away two Books of Mormon!! It was so awesome. On Tuesday morning we got a call from a member at 6:21 a.m. She said she had a referral for us and to come to her home for lunch so we could teach her. So we headed down to her house, but they weren't there. We were kind of upset, but Sister Martin reached in her bag and said "Sister Clark, you haven't given away a BOM yet, this would be a great opportunity" She told me to just listen to the spirit, and we would be guided as to who to give it too. We walked down the street a little bit and I saw a man by a tree. I felt the spirit nudge a little bit, then Sister Martin spoke up and said that we should talk to him. We introduced ourselves then he told us about how he has this whole theory about God and Jesus Christ. It was very interesting. He was a very very intelligent man. I gave him the BOM and I explained it a little bit. He read the introduction right there and was amazed. He just kept saying that it was so interesting. He said that he would read more. We left him our number and he said he would definitely call us when he read more. BUT, hes from Cuba and he is only visiting his son here in NJ for a couple of weeks and he doesn't have a phone so he is kind of hard to get in contact with. Then a few days later, we had the appointment that we were supposed to have the Tuesday before, so then after the appointment, we were walking down the street and we noticed that we were coming up on where we found Sebastian, then the phone rang. We answered and it was him!! We told him that we were actually just right outside his house, so he came out. He read the introduction and the testimonies in the front and he studied the pictures very closely. He had a lot to say and he was very interested in the book. We taught him some more. He is leaving this week though for a while, but he said he would be back soon and that he would call us when he gets back. I hope he does, because hes a really neat guy. He was a miracle!

 

It is so neat living here. I wake up every day and I'm so grateful to be here. I never thought I would be living within sight of New York City. I love it! Especially at night! Last night we went to visit the familia Cedillo again. I don't remember if I talked about them last week, but they are new members who got baptized in January. They live on blvd East, which is right across from NYC. We loved it because we get to walk there and see the great view the whole way there. Its night time too so the lights are beautiful. We had a really awesome lesson with them about the importance of prophets and temples. They are going to have their year mark soon, so we want them to be able to go to the temple very soon. The spirit was awesome and they are definitely going to be getting to the temple!

 

Well, I don't have very much time. But just know that I love the work. I'm so caught up that it is hard to even remember what life is like back at home. I love it here and I am definitely having some very good times with Sister Martin, and we see miracles every day. I hope you are all doing well. 

 

I realized that I didn't send some of the other pictures that I have from the CCM. I really wanted to send these but I just forgot.

 

We may or may not have gotten stuck in this elevator...oops. hahaha

I don't remember if I sent this, but this is us with Fernando, the Jarritos Cafeteria worker.

 

JULIE, THIS IS FOR YOU!! Hermana Christensen and I rock the ugly night gowns!