Holy cow! I can't believe it is my last Pday at the MTC. Crazy! This week has been a pretty good week and luckily it hasn't been too stressful. However I'm thinking that might hit these next few days when I start packing. Because you all know how much I love packing.
Anyway...Friday and Saturday were pretty uneventful days. We always start to go a little crazy come Saturday night because we have 6 hours straight of class and we have had a full week. So we had some extra time after dinner and decided to play follow the leader around campus to get some of our energy out. It made us be able to focus in class which was good.
Sunday for Relief Society the speaker was from the General Relief Society Board. Her name was Robin Donham. She talked about the importance of Relief Society and how it applies to missionary work. The Sunday night devotional was Sister Edmunds. She spoke in Relief Society a few weeks ago and we love her! She is so funny but gives a good uplifting message too.
Monday was Sister Jolley's last day because she is out of town. It was super sad to say bye to her. For her last class she brought stuff from her mission and pictures and told us stories which was kind of fun.
Monday night we had a lesson with our investigator Ivica. A few days before I had told Sister Palmer that I wanted her to take the lead on it again. She said ok. But as we were about to knock on the door she told me that she didn't know the words well enough and wanted me to start. Anyway...it didn't turn out so great. I knew the words and was able to talk but my companion didn't say one word the whole lesson. I left the lesson so frustrated with myself and with my companion. When we got back to class I pulled out my scriptures and started reading them. I think my teacher could see how I was feeling so he asked me questions about it and kind of talked to me a bit which helped. Then after when everyone was done teaching he decided to have us watch Finding Faith in Jesus Christ. It was exactly what I needed. We watched it in Serbian and I was actually really surprised with how much of it I could understand. Anyway...it just made me realize that if I have Faith in Christ miracles can happen. When I have bad lessons or bad days He is there to pick me back up and help me to make things better and to not focus on it and to move on.
Tuesday during our exercise we decided to go get a haircut before leaving. I just got a trim but decided it was better to do it in the MTC than to wait until we are in Croatia. Tuesday was also our last day on TALL. TALL is the MTC computer language program. It was a super sad day. At the end of TALL when you exit out it sings a song to you. So we all exited out at the same time and sang along with it. Tuesday we had another lesson with Ivica. I was really nervous for it due to how our last one with him went. It was basically just a check up lesson with him and preparing him for the baptismal interview. We went over the interview questions with him which went well. Then my companion and I both bore our testimony. We sat in silence for a few minutes but it was a good silence and then I had the feeling that I should ask him to share his testimony with us. So I did and it was amazing! The Spirit was so strong and it was so cool to see how far he has come since when we first started meeting with him. It made me so excited for when I am in Croatia and have actual investigators that I can see their progress rather than just our teachers acting as investigators.
The Tuesday night devotional was Elder Marcus Nash from the seventy. He talked about the Doctrine of Christ and how it is so important to what we are teaching. It is what we are teaching. He talked about how because of the Savior we have hope and through Christ we can recieve help and be made clean. Because the Savior Chose to come down to Earth and die for us our eternity is secure if we have Faith in him. He told us not to hold anything back from the Lord. He said the ideal missionary gives their all every day and that each day will be different. If we follow Christ and have Faith in him we will be ok and we will have the power that we need to bring others unto Christ.
Wednesday our teachers decided to let us do exchanges for one lesson. So I get to teach with Sister Peel and I am super excited about it. We didn't end up teaching on Wednesday because the teacher that is the investigator we were supposed to teach was sick so we get to teach tonight. Wednesday we also got to host. It was fun but was exhausting. One of the girls I hosted was from Germany going to temple square. The other 3 I hosted were from Utah going stateside. It was fun but we were seriously walking around all day hauling luggage in the hot sun. The best part was when I first picked up the girl from Germany I asked her where she was from and where she was going. Then she asked me where I was going and I said Croatia. She pointed to an Elder who had just got here and said he is from Croatia. I didn't talk to him there for very long but then we saw him at dinner and chatted for a minute and then he came to our class and talked to us. It was really cool but he talked a lot. He is a convert to the church so he talked to us about that. He also talked about the culture in Croatia and told us about the war. He mostly spoke in English but he did speak some in Croatian too which was cool to hear. He said that he was the first one from his family to join the church and since then several more of his family members have. He told us the aspect of how families can be together forever is what interested him most in the church and if we can find families that is what will help the church to grow.
Thursday we had infield orientation. It is where the missionaries who will be leaving the next week go and have workshops all day. Seriously all day 8-5:30. It was good but it was really long and it was basically just a review of everything that our teachers have been teaching us the whole time. We did role playing and they tried to have activities to make it interesting but it was still a long day. Immediately after it we went straight to TRC so we had no time to prepare but it went well. There ended up being only one volunteer so we combined companionships so we were with Sister Erbe and Sister Peel. We just talked about the Book of Mormon and shared our favorite scriptures. Then we had the volunteer tell us stories from her mission.
Alright, it seems like you all know more about my flight plans than I do due to the fact that you have internet access and I don't. It is looking like the only option for calling is from Salt Lake. We leave here at 7:30 so I am thinking it will be around 9 or 9:30ish but I am not positive so don't freak out if it is later. I will just call Mom's cell phone so make sure that is with you. I'm glad that everyone will be together!
I feel like I haven't told you much in this email but I don't have anything else written down to talk about.
I get to play the piano in sacrament meeting on Sunday. I'm hoping that since I am doing that I won't have to speak.
This week I had my first experience with not being able to think of a word in English but I knew what it was in Croatian. Hopefully more of those will start coming. I wish I could close my eyes and wake up and be fluent. But I know it takes work and I am improving every day. Although I am pretty sure the second I step foot in Croatia I will realize I really don't know anything. But that's ok. My teachers have all said it took them a good six months in the country before they felt like they actually had the language. It is even an extra stress not knowing which of the countries I will be in because they are all different enough that it will take some extra getting used to once I know which language I will actually be speaking. We have predictions of where everyone in my district will be going. I would tell you but we are probably wrong so if we end up being right I will let you know if I was right on where I was going. Me and Sister Peel have decided that we will have our trainers the first transfer and then the second transfer we will be companions again. It probably won't happen but it would be awesome! They are actually going to have 2 classes of Croatians in the MTC next transfer so the chances of us being trainers our second transfer are fairly high. Which is a scary thought. But I know if I am called to do it it will be ok and I will have help.
How do I feel about leaving the MTC? Mixed emotions. A lot of people told me that towards the end I would be ready to leave. But I am actually really going to miss the MTC. I have loved every minute here! I love the people in my district and my zone. We all get along very well. I love the devotionals they have. I don't love the food they have. I love my teachers- we seriously have the best teachers in the entire MTC. They all know so much and are so helpful. I have learned so much from every single one of them. The MTC really is an amazing place and I am going to miss it but I am so excited for the adventure that I have ahead of me. I am so excited to go put to use everything that I have learned. I know that it will be hard, really hard but I know that with the Lord's help I can do it and it will be so worth it!
Remember that I love you all lots and lots and lots! Thanks for all of the love and support and prayers and everything! You are all amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better family!
Volim vas!
Sestra Clark
Shoutouts!
Letters this week from Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Carrie, Lex
Thanks for the packages family and Grandpa and Carrie- I am set on treats for the flight plus some!
Happy Birthday to Nugget tomorrow!
Grandpa asked me if he can email me. The answer to that is yes. We technically can email anyone now and anyone can email us. But don't spread that too far because I don't want to have to read a milliion letters each time and not have time to write.
Also I am going to be sending a package home so look for that in the next couple of days.
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