Mission Moments: March 2013

Well, I made it through my first day alive & well! Saying goodbye was hard but the second I walked away everyone was so nice & I knew everything would be just fine and it has been. They took us first to get our nametags & paperwork. It's so weird to actually be wearing the nametag now. We then went to our rooms for literally 5 seconds & dropped luggage off. You will be happy to know I got the bottom bunk! After, we went to get our books. On the way I saw Elder Worthen and said Hi to him for a few seconds. I'm pretty sure the books I got are on the heavier end of the ones they give you. I seriously got a million & they are huge!

We then went to the classroom where they did only speak Croatian and I didn't understand any of it! My favorite word is "Sto znaci" which is "what does that mean?" I feel like I will be using it quite often!

My comapnion, I actually have 2, Sister Rankin is from Madison, WI and Sister Palmer from Alpine, UT. They are both really nice & I think we will work well together. We have 5 in our room so there is one other companionship. Our district consists of 7 sisters & 2 elders. That's all that are learning Croatian.

After class we went to a meeting with the MTC President where they basically just told us all the rules, then we went to dinner. It was kind of hard to tell what was where & there were a million people so we just had the main line which was chicken fried steak. It was pretty good & I did eat it! Wednesday is also ice cream day so I got ice cream!

After dinner we went to a teaching experience where there were basically 50 of us in a room teaching an "investigator" and we rotated 3 times to different rooms. It was amazing that on the first day you could feel the Spirit in that room and you could feel a love for the "investigators". I just wanted to shake them & say you've got it all wrong, this is what you need to be happy. It was a great experience & they gave us great advice on how to act in certain situations.

After the activity we met with our zone leaders & coordinating sister which was a bit overwhelming. They gave us a lot of information in not very much time. After we were able to talk to the coordinating sister & get some questions answered so I'm not feeling so freaked out.

Then we went back to our rooms to unpack. It's a little dumb because they have 4 closets in a room but more than 4 people in a room, so between the 3 of us we are sharing 2 closets. Surprisingly, it all fits with room to spare!

It is actually Thursday morning right now so I made it through my first night too! I slept decent, the beds are actaully better than I thought they would be. My mind was racing a million thoughts a minute so I had a hard time falling asleep. Miraculously I woke up just fine when 6:30 came. The shower situation is still a little difficult. I may have to start waking up early to shower because they want us to be ready by 7:00 to start companion study.

However, I was able to pick my outfit with no struggle, by myself . . . sorta! I just decided to wear what I wore for my farewell because I figure no one here saw me there!

I think that's all for my first day & it is looking like P-days will be on Mondays. Thanks for the treats & the notes in my suitcase. I haven't gotten any letters yet, I am hoping we will get some today but they havent officially assigned district leaders yet and they are the only ones that can get mail. I am assuming it will be the only 2 elders in our class but we will know for sure tonight so we may not get our mail until tomorrow.

Thanks for all your love, support and encouragement. I couldn't do this without knowing I have a great family back home supporting me. I am doing great & this is going to be a great experience. I am in the Lords' hands now and everything will be just fine! I love you all!

Love,
Sestra Clark

PS: Let Jordan know I wore the dork dot with pride & it is now offically off!

Sister Clark spoke in the Whisper Wood Ward at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 24, 2013. She gave an excellent talk on "Listening With Our Hearts" and learning by the Spirit. She proved to us all that she will be an excellent missionary! Here are some pictures from the gathering of family & friends at our house afterwards. I didn't take any pictures that day but luckily we have Alexa who loves her camera!