pictures

april 29, 2013

         I'm attaching a song that is off the LDS website and I LOVE IT I try to listen to it like every day bahaha and I dance to it in the car. I don't know how good it will sound, but if it sounds weird, look it up on Youtube. Actually, just go look it up. 'It's a Good Start' by James Warren. Here's the page where the music is. It's all actually pretty good. https://www.lds.org/youth/music?lang=engsome other songs to listen to that are really good are Glorious by Russ Dixon and I am His Daughter by Nicole Sheahan.
         Well, I am learning a whole lot on my mission, and it is AWESOME! When I am bearing my testimony to somebody about Joseph Smith or how they can rid their life of sad feelings through Jesus Christ, you can see it in their eyes that they feel the Spirit. It is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced. I personally think that everybody should go on a mission, it is such a wonderful growing experience and you learn so so much about YOURSELF and how much Heavenly Father LOVES YOU. I want to let everybody know that He loves them. They are cared for!

Love,

Sister Indago Clarke

April 15, 2013

 Being on a mission is seriously so awesome. And I feel like it is going by reaaally fast. It scares me, but I just have to rememeber to do my best always and never give up. Yesterday, Sister Najarro and I were tracting and we got a lot of rude people and no's. I was getting discouraged. I read the letters you sent me and one Ian sent me and I thought of some scriptures. I felt a lot better after that. I just have to remember that everyone has their agency. And as long as I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, then I am okay. Even though my bag full of Book of Mormons is so heavy it feels like my arm will fall off, even though it randomly rains and wind blows and pierces through my skirt and freezes my legs, even though I'm so tired in the mornings and all day, even though sometimes I get a headache trying to figure out what an investigator needs, I love it. I wouldn't give this opportunity up for anything. It is great. I got a sunburn on my head, though, one day when we were outside for like 4 hours. Ugh I'm such a white thing. Oh well. In Brazil maybe the brown will rub off on my and I will be golden crispy when I get back haha! You room looks pretty cool as well. I really like it. My companion and I are working harder and it is really awesome. We found a new investigator amidst all the no's and I am excited. She is really open to what we have to say, I just hope she can feel the Spirit testify of it's truth.

April 22, 2013

This week we had A LOT of rain! It flooded some apartments. I actually took a couple videos. And the Hermana's apartment flooded, so last Friday was service day, where we wore pants (finally! it was soo nice) and got to walk around and serve others in our community. Hermana Savage and Hermana Jones live in our apartment now, in our living room. There is no room, but they are cool and I don't mind it. We do have a tiny bathroom but we make it work. It is definitely different!

I think our investigators are progressing very well. I love teaching them and getting to know them. Our ward is great as well. There are a bajillion little kids, but it is great. We are fed almost every night. And the food is good, too!

Today is our preparation day, so there are lots of things we need to do. And this morning we got a phone call from someone in a neighboring stake going to help her friend move everything out of her basement, the friend is in our ward. She asked if we could help. Sister Najarro and I were kind of reluctant about going, we really wanted to get everything done today! But you know what, once we got there, I was so happy to be helping this lady. You could see that it really meant a lot that two complete strangers sacrificed time out of their day to help her. I prayed a lot before we got there, because I knew it was wrong of me to feel that way. I am glad those feelings went away and that we were able to leave with smiling faces. WE are planning on getting our District over there on Thursday to help some more. She has a lot of things that need to be taken out and thrown away, but we have big meetings tomorrow and Wednesday.

No word on my visa, but I have a feeling I will be leaving Chicago in about three weeks, at the end of this transfer. Transfers are 6 weeks long. I just have a feeling. I have been having weird dreams about me receiving my visa, so maybe it's a sign? Haha, but all is well. I love it here.

I go by Sister Clarke, so it seems like I don't even have my first name anymore! It is very strange. But when people DO find out my first name, they are very surprised by it and think it's,"Soo cool!"

I love all of you so very much! I hope all is well. I look forward to my P-days so I can find out how you're doing. Thank you so much for your great emails and support. I LOVE YOOOOU! (I will send your little individual emails too..I like personalized things XD)

Love,

Sister Indago Clarke

march 29, 2013

Hey everyone! I am just emailing everyone at the same time so I can get what I want to tell you in before my time is up. And I will send a little email for just you afterwards.

So this whole time I have been having a good attitude about my rreassignment. The rest of my district is full of people who are going to Africa or the US so they have their visas. Sister Wharton and I didn't have ours, and they would kinda make fun of us, in a joking way, of course, like,"Oh have fun in Montanna." things like that. Then, SISTER WHARTON GOT HER VISA! Woo! I was so happy for her, I didn't even care about myself! I was still hopeful and knew that if I get reassigned it is because I am supposed to be there for a reason. So I waited...and waited...AND WAITED. And 6pm comes around yesterday, still no visa/reassignment. I'm thinkin',"What the heck..I need to pack and such! did they forget about me? everyone else knows where they are going except me!" Then I was sad. And discouraged. I pouted to class, and my teacher shared an experience he had when he was in Brazil. He had made a goal to baptize at least one person a transfer(every 6 weeks is a transfer) and it hit the 5th week and he felt like they would not make their goal. He was discouraged. His companion, however, was very uplifting and he said,"Elder...if we do what we're supposed to, Heavenly Father will bless us. Just have faith." So they fasted and prayed and guess what? They found somebody ready to be baptized that Sunday! How awesome! Right at the last minute, they were blessed. It taught me to just have patience. And all of my sad feelings in that moment were replaced with warm, happy ones. I know this church is true! and I know it blesses families. I got my reassignment today, but I want to call my Dad first so he knows before everyone else does, sorry XD I love you all! I can't believe I will be teaching real investigators, changing people's lives next week! this mission has already blessed me so much, and I haven't even started yet! Well, I have, but yeah...I love you all! I think about you every day! My Portuguese is awesome! I hope I don't forget it, though. I am still learning, but I love speaking it.

spiritual stuff

Some scriptures I want you to look up when you can, preferably now, are Luke 22:32, D&C 15:6, Mosiah 2:41. They are AWESOME scriptures I found this week in my scripture study. This week we really learned how awesome Jesus Christ is, we kind of take Him for granted as human beings. He has done so much for us. Imagine all of your sins, sicknesses, sadness, angers, unhappiness of any kind, times all the people who are living now, all the people who have lived on Earth, and all the people who will live on Earth. Holy. Cow. We will all be eternally indebted to Him. What a loving brother we are all blessed to have. And a loving Heavenly Father! Don't forget them, ever! I love you. Being here has really changed me and opened my mind, I can already tell. And I'm not even in the field yet!

April 9, 2013

Hey everyone! Yeah, so Chicago is AWESOME! I will be very sad when I have to leave. We are teaching about 6 investigators. It is so cool. All of the houses here are colonial looking and really neat! I always just think about the civil war and the Red Coats or whatever marching through the city haha and Paul Revere. I can't drive out here, so my companion will be driving sometimes and I will be like,"PULL OVER! We need to talk to that mail person!" and we do. She probably thinks I'm crazy, but oh well. Her name is Sister Najarro. We are English speaking, so all the lessons are in English. It's really cool. I have put off my focus on the language so I can focus on what the investigators need and I just study that. I figure Heavenly Father understands and He will help me with the Portuguese when I get to Brazil. I still pray in my head in Portuguese and also I am singing hymns in Portuguese every day so that I can try a little bit. A less active actually hasked me to say a prayer in Portuguese yesterday and it was actually very good!

So on the way to Chicago, there was me and 4 other Elders. No Sisters. They were really nice, and also visa waiters, so we just spoke Portuguese the whole time, very fun. And then On the last flight, of course, all the Elders sit next to each other and I am far up towards the front of the plane! -_- So I see the person I am sitting next to and the thought pops into my head,"Sister Clarke. This guy needs a Book of Mormon." I was like,"Oh geeze..." because I knew I would have to give him one, and I was very scared! So, I tried to make small talk. He kind of brushed me off and went to sleep. The entire airplane ride, for one hour, I prayed and read my scriptures so I would be able to know when to give him a Book of Mormon. I wrote a small testimony down on a mormon.org card for him and kept reading. I felt a warm feeling in my heart the ENTIRE HOUR NO JOKE. It was the Holy Ghost! I knew could do it and I just had to press forward and remember why I am on a mission anyway. So, I pull out the Book of Mormon and I saw him look at it and at my name tag. Then I asked him if he had ever heard of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He said yeah, and he knew where I was going with his bahaha. So I explained I was just arriving on my mission and that I wanted him to have a Book of Mormon. He said,"Well I'm not gunna read it, but I'll take it if it makes you feel better." and I thought,"Oh...you'll read it." I had such a great feeling when I got off that airplane, it was like I was floating. Then I stepped outside and almost froze to death because I had on clothes for warm weather. A member in the ward gave me a coat and I got some boots and tights. I didn't really want to buy them, because it costs money, but I knew I needed them. So I did.

So we went to teach this lady named Sister Backus. She has been investigating for 3 years! She goes to church with her husband and 2 kids, but none of them are baptized. They even watch General Conference! and I really wanted to be able to teach her something that really touched her heart. SO I was praying and praying and trying to study and know what to say. During her lesson I had the prompting to ask a question, so I did. And after that, words just flew out of my mouth. I was talking, but it was like somebody else was actually talking for me. It was so hard to explain, but I know that she felt the Spirit that day. I could see it in her eyes. She is just awesome. We went over to watch the Saturday morning General Conference. It was very nice. I really love it here. I wish we tracted more, because I like being outside and I love the weather, and I just wanna get on the rooftops and scream about how awesome the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ are! But my companion never seems to want to. I am trying to be a good example, and I don't get mad at her or anything. She has been out for 15 months and I think it's just that 'senior-itis' setting in, but I want to get out there! She is awesome, though. I love my companion! But I keep accidentally calling her Sister Wharton, my MTC companion bahaha.

I love all of you! You are all in my thoughts and prayers! My p-day is Monday (it was Tuesday this week just because our zone went to the temple) and my address is:

Sister Indago Clarke 

Chicago Illinois Mission

1319 Butterfield Rd. Suite 522

Downers Grove, Illinois 60515

I would like to have pictures, so please just email me a couple so I don't forget what y'alls faces look like! You guys are great!

Love,

Sister Clarke