It will be really sad to leave Hermana Clark today. Saying bye to my district was really sad.
Question: Can you find a way to mail me Red Mango?
Okay, thanks!
Well, I know this church is true and I am so happy to be a representative of Christ!
Week 6 : Letter 2, First Area
Okay wow. So much has happened in the last 10 days. Wow wow wow. Where do I even begin?
The good news is now that I'm back in the States, letters are a fantastic way to communicate. So, to start things off, here's my address:
Hermana Alyssa Clark
3301 West Gonzales Road
Oxnard, CA 93036
Okay, really it's the mission home address, but they forward all mail along and it will be my address for my whole mission. Also, make sure to include first and last name cause there are more than one Hermanas Clarks in this mission. :) Packages and everything can also be sent to this address, as long as you don't use FedEx or UPS.
Okay okay okay.
So last week saying goodbye to my District and teachers was really sad :( Mom, you would be proud, I cried. Also, you can be very proud because I got all of my stuff in my suitcases and they weighed safely under 50 pounds. My carry-on weighed 20 lbs, but the suitcases made it to Cali. So it's all bien.
I am serving in the Arroyo Grande 2nd ward. It is an English ward that is hoping to develop a Spanish Branch soon. We, along with another set of sisters, cover the whole stake (three wards) for Spanish. We are whitewashing the area, which means that the companionships who were here before us are all gone, as in all the missionaries in the area are new (except two). We also replaced Elders, so there are two new sets of sisters replacing two sets of Elders. Which also means we inherited their apartment....and I think that the standard of "clean" for Elders and Sisters is a litttttlllleee bit different.
We are the first sets of sisters here since the 80s, something that we have been told by every member in the ward we have talked to. CRAZY! It is a lot of pressure but also really exciting. Everyone is super excited for us to be here, and now we just need to get them to be as excited about missionary work. We taught in the third hour at church yesterday and everyone just sort of bowed their heads or looked at Casper floating around the room when we looked in their direction. We'll get them on board pretty soon, hopefully... There is a lot of reactivating to be done in this area, so hopefully they will jump on board soon!
I was a little disappointed to find out I wouldn't be speaking Spanish all the time. But I know that this is where the Lord needs me to be. I teach in both Spanish and English, but mostly it's been English and even the people who are supposed to be Spanish investigators speak English primarily. It will definitely be harder to learn Spanish, but I will study hard and speak what I know. It's important to remember that I was called to serve people, not to learn a language, but that knowing that language will help me to serve more people.
My companion is Hermana Taylor. She is from Georgia and is also the oldest of 4 girls. She has been on her mission for a little over a year. She is awesome. She's just a rock. Super solid missionary and I've already learned so much from her. She's great to be patient with all my questions and stuff, which I really appreciate.
So some of the people we have taught....
Chazahla has got to be the biggest riot I've ever met. She is 81 and British with bright red hair. She is in a "dire situation" as she repeatedly tells us and needs to move out of her house soon. We have been trying to help her pack, but....she's a hoarder. Literally I have never seen so much stuff in my life. She has and endless amount of tea pots, clowns, rotten eggs, plastic containers, pillows, papers, plants, and more. Most definitely a "dire situation". But she is hilarious. Oh my. I love her so much. She calls us "chicky poos" and calls the elders "chaps". And oh my. I just adore her :)
Pablo is part of a part-member family with the cutest little girls. One of them is about to turn 8 and we hope that he can be able to baptize her in August.
Really though we haven't had much time to teach, we've been doing a lot of service helping people pack up and clean and move, which Hermana Taylor tells me is really weird. So hopefully we will get into a better routine soon. :)
The field is white and ready to harvest. We are no longer just planting seeds, that's not enough anymore. The seeds are planted and it's time for us to really start acting and gathering and reaping.
Thanks for all your love and support and prayers.
Much love and blessings your way!
Hermana Clark