It was a really really busy week of packing, planning and drinking mate and playing uno, so Ill keep it brief.
Monday we had our statue of liberty trip with the departing missionaries. We went to ellis island, the statue (we got to go up the pedestal) then we went to the 9/11 memorial, then had lunch in Bayonne, then to the Russian tear drop then we went to a really neat catholic cathedral in Newark. I would have to say that the cathedral was my favorite thing of the day. It was so incredibly gorgeous inside. There was an incredibly strong spirit of faithfulness inside. I had fun walking around and learning about some different catholic traditions. After walking around a bit we all gathered together and sung hymns and President Taggart talked to us a little bit about some issues that are going on in the world right now and instructed us to all we can to defend Christianity when we return home. It was very spiritual and emotional for us all. The spirit was amazing as we sung hymns together. When we returned to the newark church I had my departing interview... That was weird. I hate to say this but it was so much harder to work this week after that. It felt really weird and it all of a sudden hit me that Im coming home. It was a great interview and P.T. gave me some really good counsel for my life.
Tuesday I had my hotseat. That was super weird but it was really to think about my experiences and just talk about my mission to the other missionaries. We had some pretty good laughs about some of the crazy things that have happened out here. Im definitely going to miss the adventures I had out here in New Jersey. Life is much more interesting as a missionary, but I guess ill have to find new ways to make life interesting.
Thursday I went to do the traditions with the taggarts with another zone. That was super cute. They shared some of their family christmas traditions with us. They do this fun tradition where they put a nut in parfait and the one who gets it wins something so what they do is they add 5 dollars every year so they are at like 160 dollars in thier family. Hahah too bad the winners of the missionaries didnt get money. haha. That night my companion got a special call from P.T. I am so so so happy for her. Sister Galvan got called to be a sister training leader. There is no one better for the job. She is going to do so great. I am really proud of her.
Friday we had to go to shorthills because Sister Galvan had to go to mission leader council since she is a new STL. I hung out with some sisters up there. Then the rest of the day and saturday we were in our apartment all day packing and doing our planning. We had a lot of fun playing uno during our breaks. My companion can TRASH TALK!! haha she is all talk though. I won most of the games :) haha We are getting doubled out so that is a lot of work to prepare the area for two new sisters. We organized and updated the whole area book and it looks super good now. We got photos of all of the members and planned for the whole week. Union city is blowing up now. THey have like 3 new investigators for next week that were member referrals who are all super solid so I am really excited for the sisters who get to go there. They are going to love it. I can definitly look back at my last two transfers in Union city and they were really hard, but I can definitely say that I left that area better than when I found it and that makes it all worth it.
My last sunday at church was good. Last night was probably one of the most rewarding nights of my mission. We had the spanish christmas program in Newark. All of the spanish missionaries put on this program for the members and investigators every year. I had people from every single one of my areas there. They were all so excited to see me and I was so excited to see them. I sat in the back after our zones musical number and just looked out and saw them all and my heart filled with gratitude. Gratitude to my heavenly Father for sending me to New Jersey to have the best 18 months of my life. After the program it was pure craziness. The whole congretation mixed with the missionaries just laughing, hugging, crying and taking pictures. It really is amazing to see how much missionaries touch the lives of people. Every single missionary had one family that they just ran to and cried and hugged and laughed. The Garcia family was there. When they walked in they looked for me and when they found me they had huge smiles on their faces and they were waving so excitedly. After the program I ran to them and gave Ana and yenny the hugest hugs!! It was so hard not to hug Julio, Julian and Alonzo. We took pictures and had a really fun time talking and catching up. They moved and now they live in their own house and are seeing so many blessings. I am so happy for that family. Then I saw a few families from Perth Amboy. Angela and her son Rey. It was so fun to see them! and Sheila. Then I saw the Lazaro family and the Bravos from Passaic and hermana Suarez from West new york. We had a ton of Union CIty peeps there too who were so excited to be there and see all of the missionaries. The whole church was literally just bursting with love and joy.
Now as my mission comes to a close I cannot even express how thankful I am for the oportunity that I had to come here to New Jersey and spread the good word. It was such a humbling experience and I learned so much. I learned that God is in every single detail of our lives and that he truly loves each and every one of us so much. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored to the earth and that the book of mormon is true. I will never ever doubt that. I learned how to love unconditionally. I would do anything for these people that I have met here in New Jersey and I just hope that they know that.
I love you all and I am so thankful for all of the support and prayers that I have received. This truly was the best 18 months of my life. I am so excited to see you all on Wednesday!! I can hardly wait! It will be fun to see you all and to hear about your lives. Until then, I love you and miss you and hope you have a great couple of days!!
-Sister Clark
P.S: I have to write down this line of the week for the memories. On Thursday night I was laying in bed pillow talking with my companion then just out of no where she goes "my legs feel like corn dogs". I literally almost died laughing. Sister Galvan was such an answer to my prayers and she changed my life for the better. Hopefully someday I can live in Argentina with her :) haha
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