Sister Clause

Hello my friends!

This week has been pretty great! There have been so many tender
mercies and miracles that have happened and it just reminds me of how
aware our Heavenly Father really is of us at every point in our lives!

We went on exchanges this week and it was so great! I even got to pet
two real life HUGE wolves! It was the coolest thing ever! I absolutely
love Sister Flake and I'm super grateful that I was able to be with
her!

We also did a lot of service in helping set up for this big Christmas
celebration that Kearney does! That was a lot of fun, cold, but fun!
Then we were able to be Mrs. Clause's helpers. That was an adventure!
I kept on wanting to call her Sister Clause, so that's kind of
awkward..  but hey that's okay!

We had some great lessons this week too! We have 4 NEW INVESTIGATORS!
It is literally such a miracle! We have been praying for more
investigators for a while and it was phenomenal! 3 of them are a cute
family that Sister Helmbold and Sister Littell found while we were on
exchanges. We just had a lesson with them on Saturday and it went
awesome! Remember that one girl who came out of her house and asked us
if we were the sister missionaries? Well we had a lesson with her
(Shelda) yesterday and we brought a couple youth from our ward,
Saleena our recent convert and also Camille! Their testimonies were so
powerful and it totally added to the lesson! And it got them super
excited about their missions! They are so cute! I am so proud of them!
Shelda is super excited to learn more! She is amazing!

Everyone needs to do the Christmas initiative #LIGHTtheWORLD! It is
absolutely amazing! We have been doing it and it just invites the
spirit so much more! So just do it! It's never to late to start!

I am so grateful for my Savior and this time that we have to celebrate
his birth! I love his perfect example that he is! I love that he loved
us so much that he suffered for each of us! His love is perfect! He
knows each of us perfectly and knows us individually! I know that He
lives and loves! I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and how
merciful He is! He is so aware of us at every point in our lives! He
knows what's best for us, He loves us! He is NEVER far away! He wants
us to turn to Him. He wants to help us! I am so grateful for Him!

I hope you all have a great week! Don't forget to #LIGHTtheWORLD!

Love,
Sister Clark

I am the worst with remembering pictures!! *face palm
Huge wolves! They are a lot bigger than they Look! The one on the far
right is a Huskey, not a wolf haha.

Mrs. Clause helpers

Heart attacking a members home! Super fun but SUPER COLD!!

Let it Snow

Hello family and friends! 

It's probably really weird to see an email from me since it's not Monday. It's a long story, but I am actually home because of medical problems. I am so super sad that I couldn't stay in Missouri longer. In fact it was incredibly hard to get on the airplane! Sometimes we don't understand the end picture. We don't understand the "whys" but that is okay we don't need to! Even though sometimes it's super stressful and you just want to know every why. I am so grateful for the 3 months that I had to be able to serve my Heavenly Father and be my Savior Jesus Christ's representative! It was the hardest yet most amazing 3 months of my life so far! I learned more than I can even begin to explain! I met the most amazing people within the ward, the investigators, and especially the other Missionaries! Friendships that were created that will last for eternity! I miss my most amazing companion more than words can describe! She helped me more than I can ever begin to explain and I feel forever indebted to her! I am especially grateful for the relationship that was strengthened with my Savior and my Heavenly Father! Wow all I can really say about that is with out them, I couldn't have even made it as far as I did! I love them so much! The atonement in reality does help strengthen us and helps us feel of the comfort in knowing that we are never alone especially in times of trial! I love this gospel so much and feel so grateful and honored that I was able testify if it every day in Missouri! I read this poem and it was absolutely amazing! So I have to share it! I just know that Heavenly Father has a greater plan for everyone! He knows us so perfectly! We just have to trust in His will and more importantly His timing! Trials stink, they are not fun! It's hard to trust in His timing sometimes,  but they are there to help us get to know Him! He so desperately wants us to get to know Him and to rely on him. He loves us so much! Keep the faith, keep on trying, keep on praying, but more importantly keep on relying! He will be there to bear you up when you can't stand anymore! 

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .

And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

“Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

“My future and all to which I relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

As my Master replied again, "Wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,

And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .

and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love

When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

And though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

Thank you all for your prayers and your support though out this AMAZING experience! I loved being a missionary and I miss it sooo much already! 

Love, 

Sister Marissa Clark 

Sent from my iPad

Missin Missouri

Hello family and friends! 

It's probably really weird to see an email from me since it's not Monday. It's a long story, but I am actually home because of medical problems. I am so super sad that I couldn't stay in Missouri longer. In fact it was incredibly hard to get on the airplane! Sometimes we don't understand the end picture. We don't understand the "whys" but that is okay we don't need to! Even though sometimes it's super stressful and you just want to know every why. I am so grateful for the 3 months that I had to be able to serve my Heavenly Father and be my Savior Jesus Christ's representative! It was the hardest yet most amazing 3 months of my life so far! I learned more than I can even begin to explain! I met the most amazing people within the ward, the investigators, and especially the other Missionaries! Friendships that were created that will last for eternity! I miss my most amazing companion more than words can describe! She helped me more than I can ever begin to explain and I feel forever indebted to her! I am especially grateful for the relationship that was strengthened with my Savior and my Heavenly Father! Wow all I can really say about that is with out them, I couldn't have even made it as far as I did! I love them so much! The atonement in reality does help strengthen us and helps us feel of the comfort in knowing that we are never alone especially in times of trial! I love this gospel so much and feel so grateful and honored that I was able testify if it every day in Missouri! I read this poem and it was absolutely amazing! So I have to share it! I just know that Heavenly Father has a greater plan for everyone! He knows us so perfectly! We just have to trust in His will and more importantly His timing! Trials stink, they are not fun! It's hard to trust in His timing sometimes,  but they are there to help us get to know Him! He so desperately wants us to get to know Him and to rely on him. He loves us so much! Keep the faith, keep on trying, keep on praying, but more importantly keep on relying! He will be there to bear you up when you can't stand anymore! 

Wait

by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.

I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .

And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

“Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!

Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

“My future and all to which I relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?

I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,

Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

“You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,

We need but to ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:

I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,

As my Master replied again, "Wait."

So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,

And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .

and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.

I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.

You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.

You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.

You'd not know the joy of resting in Me

When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love

When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,

The faith that I give when you walk without sight.

The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.

Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,

But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.

And though oft My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

Thank you all for your prayers and your support though out this AMAZING experience! I loved being a missionary and I miss it sooo much already! 

Love, 

Sister Marissa Clark 

Sent from my iPad

#LIGHT the WORLD

My dearest family and friends!

What a week... That's all I have to say about that haha. I'm a little
short on time yet again, but I will do my best to make this email
great just for you lovely people! 😊

Anyways, one of the greatest highlights is that Tadem got
baptized!!!!! She was literally so excited and so cute! Her whole
family came to her baptism as well! None of them are members so that
made it even better! Her parents even came to church on Sunday it was
amazing! I totally know that they felt the spirit they had to have
whether they realized it or not! Getting that little seed started!
Haha

This week I have really noticed the importance of sacrament! Not only
is it a time to renew our baptismal covenants, but it honestly brings
so much strength. The strength that you need for the new week. It just
recharges your extremely dead (at times) battery. I love being able to
take the sacrament every week! I am so grateful that i have that
opportunity!

Light the world came out on Friday!! It is absolutely AMAZING!!!! If
you haven't seen it go and watch it! I have to give you an invitation
of course, so I invite you really take it to heart and to do the
amazing Christmas initiative! And invite anyone you meet to do it as
well! It will be amazing! Go to Mormon.org for more details on it!
It's amazing!! We try to show it to everyone we see! I could watch it
over and over again! Every time we watch it, the spirit just
phenomenal! So watch it, after you watch it then share it, after you
share it to watch it again, and then go and do it!!!!!

I hope you all have the best week ever!  You are all phenomenal! Thank
you for your prayers! Remember who you are, and whatever else you do
don't forget.... the gospel is true!!

Love,
Sister Clark

Still Fishing in Fishing River

My dearest family and friends,

 I don't have a whole lot of time today, but I will try my best. Great
news!! Sister Helmbold and I are still in Fishing River! Like my cute
little cheesy subject line said, we are still fishing for the prepared
and elect! Haha I know, funny sister Clark! Haha!

This week was packed full of lots of challenges!! But challenges lead
to growth and a stronger testimony of the Savior so I'm grateful for
that. It just seemed to be one of those weeks where no one kept any
appointments and everyone in Kearney went out of town or didn't answer
the door. It's always a good joke on us when the town coordinates like
that. That's okay though because we found some other neat people we
are hoping to start teaching! We meet this man named Mark who was
sitting on his porch having a "really bad day" and was "not interested
in y'all's church." We started talking to him and he was definitely
annoyed but then we read a scripture in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi
31:20, and there was a visible light that came through the spirit of
that verse! His heart softened and he almost even smiled a tiny bit!!
He said we could come back and teach him and so we are heading over
tomorrow. Neat little moment.

Oh and Tadem is still getting baptized this Saturday! I am so excited

for her! She is literally the cutest little thing! haha oh and last
night there was something called Presidents Devotional and thats when
recent converts can bear their testimonies and then President and
sister Vest share a little message. It's really neat! Anyways, Saleena
came and bore her testimony! she was super nervous but she did it and
she did such a phenomenal job! Her testimony is so strong and i cant
wait to see it grow even more!

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Remember to eat lots of
turkey, or whatever food you eat on thanksgiving and eat lots of pie!
(If you don't eat pie on thanksgiving then eat pie anyways because
it's the best!) and I have to say this, but think of everything that
you are thankful for! I am definitely grateful for my Savior Jesus
Christ and His atoning sacrifice! I am grateful that we don't have to
walk alone because he will always be there walking beside us!

Sorry this email is super short, but hey it's the best I can do! I
love you all! Thank you for your continual support and prayers! Have a
great week and an even better Thanksgiving! Remember who you are and
whatever else you do don't forget... the gospel is true!

Love,
Sister Clark

Are you the Mormon Missionaries?!

My dearest family and friends! 

Wow what a week!! We were super busy, and the best part is, is that we saw so many miracles! I don't have a lot of time to email today, but I will try my best! First, this week is transfers and I literally cannot believe it! I also can't believe that I entered the MTC exactly two months ago! CRAZY!!! I'm stressing about transfers but Sister Helmbold is still the true MVP and helping me pull through the stress! Bless her sweet soul! 

Tadem is getting baptized on the 26 now because it's stake conference next week. But she is so excited! We went to the visitors center with her and Sister Roberts which was super spiritual! I am so excited for her! 

Now onto the miracles! The biggest one is.... SALEENA FINALLY GOT BAPTIZED!! It was kind of a surprise but we are beyond excited that she finally just did it! Funny story, one night she just called us and was like okay let's get together and talk dates! So we did and we set it for Saturday November 12 at 6:00! That was a miracle! It was my first baptism so that made it even more special! 

One day while we were in Excelsior Springs we felt like we should go and visit this potential investigator at these one apartments, so we did. As we were there they said that the guy we were looking for didn't live there any more and they weren't interested either. That was a bummer! But we felt like we needed to stay there at the complex so we knocked on a couple doors. We knocked on one door and they weren't home, so we knocked on another one. This cute old guy opens the door, but said he wasn't interested. So that was again a bummer. We started to leave and i was standing behind the car waiting to back Sister Helmbold and all of a sudden a lady comes out of her house and was like "Are you the missionaries I talked to on the phone?" I looked at her and was like what is your name? She told us her name is Shelda. Sister Helmbold and I started to talk to her a little more and she was like, "are you here to deliver me a Book of Mormon?" We gladly told her we have one just for her. Apparently she ordered a Book of Mormon because her boyfriend is a recently baptized member of the RLDS church. So we aren't sure if they ordered our Book of Mormon or one from the RLDS church but hey she has our Book of Mormon and we are super excited to hopefully teach her this week! It was such a tender mercy and definitely a miracle! 

Today we went to lunch with my favorite sisters ever! Sister Morgan and Sister Baggett and of course Sister Helmbold! Seriously though they are absolutely amazing! I am surrounded by the best of the best missionaries! Their examples are phenomenal! I am just so blessed to be in this mission at this time with the people I am surrounded with! 

Thank you all for your prayers and your support! I love you!! 

Love, 

Sister Clark

-Lunch with my favorite Sisters!! 

-Funny when you go to the visitors center and two other sisters are wearing the same or close to the same dress! 

-At the visitors center with Sister Roberts and Tadem

-Cute little Tadem! 

-Saleenas baptism!!! 

-Jetti the Jetta (our car) died, yet once again so a member came to save us! 

ONE MONTH?!?!

My dearest family and friends,

This week has been crazy! I still can't believe that I have been out in Missouri for A MONTH! It feels just like yesterday I got here! I love Missouri and the people here as well! The work is going amazing and I love it so much!! We are still busy so that's amazing! Right now we are trying to find more people to teach, and I am so excited to find more of Heavenly Fathers, our brothers and sisters, who are prepared to hear the great news about this amazing gospel! Probably the best thing about being a missionary is the fact that I do get to testify of my Heavenly Father and savior Jesus Christ every single day! 

I have learned so much about myself this past week and more importantly I have learned so much about my Savior! I have learned more about His Atonement and how I can apply it into my daily life! It's amazing! I love the strength and the peace it brings in a sometimes crazy world! As we continually learn more about it and apply it in our lives we will be so blessed and we could conquer everything and anything that comes our way! How phenomenal would that be? 

Our investigators! Oh how I love them! Tadem is still super excited and super ready to get baptized on the 19! We are super excited for her! She is literally the sweetest! She is now a first class black belt, how crazy cool is that?!? You really don't want to mess with her!  then we have Saleena! She is teaching us so much about patience! Bless her sweet soul, she just wants everyone to make it to her baptism so she keeps on changing her date. She will get baptized we know it, we just don't know when. I just adore her though! Then we have Mago! We had this member who speaks fluent Spanish and he came and taught the lesson with us! Even though we didn't really understand everything he was saying the spirit was super strong! It was amazing! We also went and visited him at work and it totally made his day! It was actually his birthday and we just figured that out today! He is so funny! He also bought us our lunch! He is super sweet! We have some others that are progressing and I'm super excited about each of them! 

Now I have to continue to brag about my companion! I absolutely adore her! She is so beyond amazing! She continues to help me stretch and become the best missionary that I can be! She is super encouraging and always supportive! She is so patient and I am learning SOO much from her! I literally don't know what I did to deserve to have her as my companion/trainer! She is literally the best! And I just love her! 

I know that our Heavenly Father is so beyond aware of each and every one of us! I know that he loves us more than we can comprehend! He so badly wants us to turn to Him and partake of his peace and everlasting joy! I am so grateful that I have this amazing opportunity to be one of his missionaries and to represent my Savior Jesus Christ! Thank you for all of your love and support! Thank you for your prayers! You all are amazing! Remember who you are and whatever else you do don't forget... The gospel is true! 

LOVE YOU!! 

Love, 

Sister Clark