A letter from Caleb 12-24-12

Hey mom,

I will be skyping tomorrow at 12:00 Pacific Time. We think. Really though, because of some unfortunate situations that I will explain tomorrow, we don't have a set time yet, but we are aiming for 12. 

I have loved the twelve days of Christmas! I opened the ties today and the toilet paper yesterday. Good timing too, because I was about to have to ask my companion to "spare a square." I have 10 dollars left this month because I had to buy a jacket at target. Its a great jacket, but it was 37.50. It's been raining a lot though, which is miserable because its this cold wet mist, not even real rain. I'm glad I got a jacket. I go through 2 gallons of milk a week.  OH! Can you send me recipes for breakfast items? Like french toast? I have enough chili to last me a few weeks, and enough ramen to last me for a few months. I haven't eaten lunch because I haven't been feeling good these past two weeks around lunch time. 

I have an irrational fear of ants, and of course I went into my shower tub to find hundreds of them all over the place. I played "last airbender" and schooled them into the drain. They keep coming back though. Each time I stop them in one place, they come out somewhere else. They were all over my clothes in my closet, then all over the kitchen, then back in my bathroom. THEY WONT LEAVE ME ALONE. I have had it. I went nuts, Raiding all the baseboards, spraying Raid into all the holes I can find, and vacuuming every single night. Ants suck. 

We have been freaking busy. Remember the week we taught 22 lessons? That was 4 weeks ago, and we thought President was going to loose his mind. The week after Elder Healey was sick and we taught only about 13 (or 17, I don't have my planner) but last week we taught 21, and this week we taught 23. President doesn't know what to do with us haha. We have taught so many more lessons than this area used to average in a transfer, but in a week. Everyone says I will never teach this many lessons ever again on my mission, but I am determined to not let that be the case. 

We have a baptism this week! Nico is getting baptized by his father Sam who we reactivated! His entire family (its huge) that is only half Mormon is coming and they are also coming to church the next day, which just happens to fall on missionary Sunday where not only will Elder Healey and I be speaking, but also mothers and fathers of those who have sons and daughters serving right now. We are so excited, and I am glad that things have worked out the way they have. Nico's mom has even been asking us questions about the book of Mormon, which she has been reading! Like, what?!! I was told to expect miracles, and I have been, but I didn't realize they would happen so quickly. 

I am excited to carol for Christmas tonight and tomorrow. We are going to carol at the Orange Circle, which is this historical and cool district here in Orange that many go to to shop and eat and things like that. It is right near Chapman University (remember the movie "Accepted?" with South Harmon Institute of Technology? That's where it was shot!) and there are tons of people around all the time. The movie "The things you do" (or something like that?) was shot at a drugstore/eatery on the Orange Circle.

Do you know who Rebecca Black is? Sister Hess taught her voice lessons, right next to a big picture of Jesus and a picture of Moroni on the Hill Cumorah. Rebecca is actually a decent singer, just not the best song writer (yet?).

I'm excited to skype tomorrow! I have many other things to share. Have a list of questions and I will answer them for you!

Love, Elder Clark

Caleb made guesses

I decided to do the 12 days of Christmas for my son Caleb "Elder Clark" who is serving his church mission in Anaheim, CA, here was the original post if you want to read what I did:  The original post

Anyway, here are Caleb's Guesses written in RED and in GREEN writing is what I actually sent for him for that Day of Christmas.

1st Day

December 13th:  

Proverbs 4:18 Light?

Psalms 119:105 Light.

Matthew 5:16 Light! Flashlight? Lighter? I'm in Cali, but I'm not a pothead...

Set of Christmas lights for his apartment window.

2nd Day

December 14th:

Ecclesiastes 9:8 first 6 words Garments? White.

Daniel 7:9  words 17-21 Garments.

Helaman 6:13 word 14-26 Clothing?

Mosiah 10:5 Clothing? Shirts? White Shirts?

Two White Shirts

3rd Day

December 15th:

Doctrine and Covenants 89 versus 14-16 Word of wisdom chapter? ok... Grain? Did you send me flower? the box is pretty big

3 boxes of WHOLE GRAIN Life Cereal

4th Day

December 16th:

Hebrews 2:8 Feet. Shoes? more socks?

4 Black Socks

5th day

December 17th:

Proverbs 26:6 first 8 words Message by hand. Stamps or envelopes

5 Books of Stamps

6th Day

December 18th:

Alma Chapter 58 versus 7 and 8 Food.

6 Cans of Chili  (he loves canned chili by the way)

7th Day

December 19th:

Alma 32:42 Last 4 words Something to drink? or a waterbottle?

7 packages of 2 quart drink mix with a pitcher to mix it in.

8th Day

December 20th:

Malachi 3:2 Last word Soap. Lots of room to figure that one out.

8 Bars of Soap

9th Day

December 21st:

Revelation 3:7

Word 29 to the End What. Open/shut things? I am clueless about this one.

9 Twixit Clips (Pampered Chef bag close clip things) with 9 bags of chips attatched.  Caleb actually requested chip clips from Pampered Chef.  He grew up using them and likes them a lot and said he needed a bunch of twixit clips.

10th Day

December 22nd:

1st Corinthians 11:14 Long hair. Ooh, I'm gonna samson it! Shampoo? or a razor?

10 Gift Cards to get haircuts at a place near him in Anaheim.

11th Day

December 23rd:

Isaiah 54:16 Last 7 words Waster to destroy? like a paper shredder? What? I have no idea what this could possibly be.

11 rolls of Toliet Paper

12th Day

December 24th:

Deuteronomy 28:48 Word 29 through word 38 yoke of iron? Are you trying to tell me you want me dead? Are you trying to choke me? or give me dogtags? Not a Cross, because we celebrate the fact that He lives, not that he died.

12 Ties

Letter from Caleb 12-10-12

I received this letter from Caleb yesterday by e-mail.  If you are an outsider reading this, let me explain:  Caleb is my son who is serving a two year mission in Anaheim, California, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His letters have been so awesome and I want to share them with the family and whoever else finds time to read them.

Here you go:

Mom, I love getting packages. Seriously, its amazing to feel like your parents still love you, but 

I know that there's no way what is in those boxes is worth the money you are spending in 

postage. I would like to offer a solution: don't spend so much on postage! If you must spend 

money on me (Which I honestly don't mind) it would be more helpful if you put it on my debit 

card and emailed me or mailed me what you want me to buy with it and I swear on my 

missionary honor that I'll get whatever you want me to get. except medicine, if you want to 

send me that please feel free. that's really really expensive.

Speaking of medicine, if you could send me allergy pills and an albuterol inhaler that would be 

wonderful. The one I brought is empty, and my pills go fast. The air out here is so disgusting 

some days. You can see peoples headlight beams at night, just like they are driving through 

mist because of how much smog there is. I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep at night. Any 

suggestions? My bed isn't very comfortable.

I'm loving the 12 days of Christmas. The office sisters and elders get really jealous. They say

the only reason I still get mail is because my parents still love me, but that it will change in a

few months. Sad. I love getting mail, and I can't wait to open things. I got the bike light and it is

awesome. I feel much safer at night, and I think other drivers appreciate it much more.

Hi Scott! What do I do all day? Well I wake up at 6:30 every day, work out for half an hour, 

shower/prep for half an hour, and eat breakfast for half an hour. At 8:00 I study for an hour, 

then at 9:00 my companion and I do lessons for an hour (since I'm training) and then study for 

an hour for our investigators. We usually take our lunch at 11, then leave the apartment at 12. 

We bike to the places we need to go, and teach lessons and knock on doors until about 5 or 6. 

We usually have our dinner at a members home, except this week the members are slacking. 

An hour later we go and teach lessons (we try not to knock after it gets dark, because people 

are paranoid here about burglars and people dressed like UPS delivery men who come into 

your house and kill your dogs and steal things) until 9:15, at which point we bike back to the 

apartment. Our area is 6x10 miles (not 2x3 like my companion who can't read maps thought) 

so it takes us a decent amount of time to bike anywhere. We live at (a place I'm not writing 

here for privacy)   I can't be more specific because people have a bad habit of breaking into 

missionaries homes here. At 9:30 we plan for tomorrow and then I usually write in my journal 

if I have something cool that happened that day, or write to people.

On certain days we do different things. On Monday I have a preparation day, so from 10:00 till 

6:00 I can do whatever I want, after our apartment and clothes are cleaned. We have to write to 

our parents once a week. On Fridays we have weekly planning, where we set goals for the next 

week and work on ways to find people, and to teach more effective lessons. We pray about 

each of our investigators and ward members who need help and ask for ways to be more 

effective teachers through the spirit. Some amazing things happen during weekly planning. On 

Saturdays sometimes we attend Baptisms of investigators other missionaries have taught. We 

have 2 baptisms coming up within 3 weeks of our own, and another one shortly after that we 

hope! One of them is a 10 year old girl named (name changed for privacy Sara) who's dad is 

inactive and who's mom isn't a member. We have worked to activate her dad so he can 

perform the baptism. We have another one, a 17 year old boy with an inactive dad and a sister 

and mom who aren't members. His mom is one of the main people at LA Fitness and she 

travels all over the US each week. (Name changed for privacy  Mark's) inactive dad has been 

coming to church and has been reactivated! He will baptize Mark in two weeks, and their 

entire family is coming!

Each day is fun, and riding my bike is awesome. The weather is perfect for riding in, and 

everything feels great here. On Mondays we play basketball and dodge ball and basically have 

fun until the sisters want to play and we have to throw with our non dominant hand. We have 

33 missionaries coming out in March! 75% of them are sisters.

Mom/Dad,

We have kept really busy except for last week, when Elder Healey was really sick. I really enjoy

keeping busy, as it makes the time go really fast. I can't believe its the last week of this transfer

already! We already have new elders and sisters coming out a week from tomorrow. It's crazy

how fast this has gone. Its also weird to think that when I get back I will be 21, and that I could

get married any time I wanted. I don't think I want to though, so don't worry!

 I freaking love my bike.  Thanks for sending money to get it.   I'm so proud of what I got it for too. In my letter to dad I explained how it was worth 700 but was on sale for 600 and I got it down to 370. I was exceedingly proud, and did wax strong in my knowledge of salesmen.

Love ya!

Elder Clark

Letter from Caleb 11-19-12

I found it, the letter I got a few weeks back from Caleb, my oldest son who is on a mission in Anaheim, California, that I wanted to type up right away, misplaced and just found over by the computer.  Good place for it. So here it is:



Dear Mom and Dad,

Hi!  So a few things.  I'm on a bike!  Super exciting!  this means a few things.   I need a bike.

Ok, so actually that's pretty simple.  I'm borrowing right now, but that's not sustainable for any length of time.  The bikes a piece and I've already had to drop $20 bucks of very precious funds to replace inner tubes and it needs about $80 in repairs just to work well.  The brakes are rubbing hard (they are disc brakes) and the cable is too short to loosen.  I tuned it up a little but the rims are out of alignment.  Any who, the mission president said I could either buy a bike or have one shipped.  Regardless I must have a U-style Steel lock, a helmet, a light, and a repair kit.

I realized today buying those things here is incredibly foolish.  Everything here is foolishly expensive.  Seriously, I'm going to have to be really careful with food.  The church gives me $150 a month for food, laundry, haircuts, and personal hygiene stuff (ie., toilet paper).

So let's figure out bikes.  I would really like to have one by the end of this transfer (5 weeks) because the one I'm on leaves my butt hurt.  Like seriously.  It's like riding a bike sitting on a metal railing.  Do you want grand kids someday?  Yeah.

So if you could write me ASAP (email or write a letter) and let me know what you plan.  AP's say bikes haven't been stolen in a while, so I guess that's good?

Someone shot the mission office window 4 times.  I think it was a pellet gun, but that's seriously uncool.

We had dinner at the Cannon's yesterday.  They are so nice!  Sister Cannon made Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, and dyed everything green, because I'm a "greenie"  "new to the mission".  She dyed everything green, like EVERYTHING.  The dedication to the bit was impressive.

They have 5 kids, Elder Cannon (her first, serving in Hondorus on his mission and his companion was shot), her son (name changed for privacy Brandon) who is 18 and less active in the church, Their 16 year old daughter (name changed for privacy Andrea), and two other daughters.  They are a lot like our family, except everyone is super tall and they have lots of money.

Everyone here is either super rich or super poor.  There is no middle.  The motorcycles are scary.  They are legally allowed to rush between you o the interstate.  The drivers are really fast.  The cops can't radar you, so they have to chase you down.

I went shopping.  Got Quaker Oatmeal (the BIG one) a bag of cereal, bread PB and J, and milk.  $36  I'm going to struggle.  I made a budget.  It's sad.

I love biking though.  California is super flat here.  I can probably go really fast on a decent bike.  My butt region hurts so much.  I am writing this on the wall standing because I can't sit.

We all got Earth quake kits.  Earthquakes are a really big problem here.  my companion has felt/been through 3 in five months.  Sometimes the ground rolls, and sometimes the buildings just get slapped.  We were told to watch out for fires and mudslides.

Tonight we taught (name changed for privacy) James.  He's very interesting, but it was  a great lesson, and the spirit was incredibly strong.  I feel like I can speak any language, our mission has 8 languages and more people than the entire state of Iowa or Utah.  3 million in the smallest mission in the world.  My area is Palmyra, and it's only 3 by 4 miles.  Over 400,000 people.

This is an exciting time to be a missionary.  Heavenly Father is ready for his work to move quickly.  I love what I'm doing.  I love inviting others to Come Unto Christ.  You can tell when the Lord has been preparing someone.  I bear my testimony that Heavenly Father Lives and cares about each one of us personally.  I have seen miracles happen, and as a missionary I have taught to expect them.  I know this church is true and that by ready the Book of Mormon we can develop a connection with Christ.  I know this is where I belong.

Love,

Elder J. Caleb Clark

Letter from Caleb 12-3-12

This next letter is different from normal.  I asked him LOTS of questions and told him he could just answer back right after the question to make it easier on him.

This is what he wrote and also what I wrote him:

Sheesh... Mom---->

On Sat, Dec 1, 2012 at 3:27 PM, Michelle Clark  wrote:

Hi Caleb,

So I have lots of questions so I hope you have a minute to answer them:

Did you get the small HEAVY package with the chili?  

I did, and I am really thankful. I don't think Ill need to buy ramen for a while.

Did you get the package with the homemade caramels?  I made those by the way.

The caramels are a hit here.

Did you like everything in the big package?
Duh. I love life cereal and its 6 bucks here.

What has been your favorite item so far that I have sent and what else do you need?

I just like opening packages. You could send me empty boxes filled with bubble wrap and I'd have a good time.

I know you still need a bike light and Dad did buy that, but then he forgot to put it in the big package.  I thought it was in there until I found out today that it wasn't.  So that will be sent on Monday and you should have it by Friday, I hope.

Please restate in question form.

What else would you like me to send besides a watch and an alarm clock?  I know you need those things and I'm working on it, just waiting on the next paycheck.

You're doing wonderfully. I need those things by February 3, which is the end of my training and when I get a new companion probably. Whenever works best for you works best for me.

What do you want for Christmas?

No more Ramen, please. Ha Ha.

Did you get all the clothing you needed from Missionary Mall?  Or are there still things you need?

I think so. Ill always take more (3) short sleeve white shirts and  (1) socks, but everything came that I expected.

How did tracting go this week?

Tracting went well. We only did an hour this week because we were so busy! We taught 22 Lessons this week, 14 of which being on Tuesday and Wednesday. We would have taught more, but on Thursday my bikes derailler snapped, and on Friday Elder Healey was vommiting, and on Saturday Elder Healey's bike tire burst. Like not just the tube, but the rubber tire came apart. It was spectacular. We spent a lot of time walking this week after Wednesday and it was unfortunate because we had lots of lessons planned!

Do you have any new investigators?

We got two new (old from the Area Book) investigators last week and we got one brand new investigator this week. She is almost ten and has a very inactive dad but active grandfather. She wants to be baptized so we are teaching her the lessons. She has a friend who wants to be baptized as well, and we hope to teach her friend and her mom beginning this week.

Any cool experiences this week?

We were teaching (name changed for privacy) Andrew for the first time in almost two weeks since (name changed for privacy) Tom died. He had just shared a story about how anytime he was sick or hurt, Tom always made the ASL sign for prayer and said a silent prayer for him right there, on the spot, no matter where they were. I felt prompted to sing "A Child's Prayer" for him, but really didn't want to. I didn't know all the words, I didn't want to sing in front of anyone, and if I messed up I'd feel really stupid. A few moments later I felt the same prompting. "Sing" it said. No, I wasn't going to. I would mess up the words and the spirit would leave I told myself. "If I tell you to do something, even if you mess up, I will not leave," came clear as day into my mind, and I knew I needed to sing. I said a quick prayer and asked Andrew if he wouldn't mind me singing a short verse out of a song from the childrens hymnbook. He looked at me with a quizicle expression, but said sure. I began singing it, and about a third into the first verse Andrew broke down into tears. I continued until the end of the verse, and Elder Healey asked Andrew what was wrong. Andrew said something Ill never forget. "As you sang those beautiful words, I realized that every prayer Tom ever said, was heard and answered. Every single one! How easy would it be to simply pray and ask God for help getting through this difficult time, when I know he will hear it and answer it?"

Wow. The spirit was so strong for the rest of the lesson, as Elder Healey and I testified of the truthfullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. That night I prayed for forgiveness in almost ignoring the spirit and resolved to Heavenly Father that I would be open to any suggestion or prompting the spirit gave from then on. My life was blessed because I listened to the promptings of the spirit, and I know Andrew came closer to Christ.

Where do you actually live so I can google map it?

I don't know the exact address, but it's at the end of a street called Oak in Orange, California. It branches off of "palm" which connects to "Tustin" Casa de Sol apartments

How close are you to Disneyland?

I don't live in Anaheim. We can't go to disneyland either :/

Can you see Disneyland?

No, but some nights I hear some pretty spectacular fireworks. Gunshots too.

Is your mission in the LA area?

LA is it's own mission. My mission only covers 2/3 of Orange County, and 3 million people.

How close to a temple are you?

About 10 Minutes, but 40 with traffic.

Do you get to go to a temple ever?

Once a quarter we go to the Newport Beach Temple. I have not been yet.

Has it rained on you this week?  I check the weather out and it keeps saying 20% chance, so I wonder if you get rain.

I wouldn't call it rain, I would call it God's fury. It's mist, except really thick and the roads get super slick since it never rains and everyone hits each other and its really cool. And it sucks to bike in because its super cold mist and you become completely soaked once you move in it. It has rained for 4 days.

How is your ward?  Do you like it?

Ward is good. I guess?

Do you get fed often from members?

yeah, but I feel bad because only a few actually sign up and they end up signing up every two weeks sometimes.

How often do you have to make your own meals?

Often enough that I have gotten really good at making Pancakes and Eggs.

Did you get a bike helmet?

Yup.

How are your shoes and socks?

My socks are amazing. God's gift to feet. Get some. I bought 8 pair at missionary mall when I was in salt lake out of my money.

Did you like the socks I sent?

I don't know yet, haven't gotten to them in my cycle, but they look nice. They might be my Sunday socks.

I'll write more in another e-mail and if it's easier, then just answer back the questions I wrote in a different color right next to the questions.

Love,

Mom

Night of Excellence

Alyssa recently had a Night of Excellence at church for her Young Women's group.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the night.

PICTURES

Click on slideshow to see all of them. 

Enjoy.

12 Days of Christmas for Caleb

This year I thought it would be fun to do the Twelve Days of Christmas for Caleb.  At first I just thought of random things to send him in multiples.  Then since I spend most of my time in bed, because of my injury and having to keep my foot up all the time, I then started stamping signs to go with each day in all cute designs and colors, then I had this thought that putting scriptures with each day that would be sent to him first and explaining that he would have to read the scripture and figure out the gift.  This project ended up taking me over 20 hours.  I thought it would be a quick 5 or less hours.  I knew I had to shop for everything, wrap it, pack it and ship it, but never had any idea it would take such a long time to get finished.

Here is what I did, however I'm not posting what the gifts were JUST IN CASE Caleb is able to read the Family blog.

So let's see if you can all figure out what the gifts are from the scriptures I sent to him, if you have guesses, please either e-mail me your guesses or make comments in the comment section below and I'll make another post on Christmas day with the answers of the gifts that go with each day.

1st day of Christmas: Matthew 5:16, Psalms 119:105, Proverbs 4:18. 

2nd Day is Ecclesiastes 9:8 first 6 words, Daniel 7:9 words 17-21, Helaman 6:13 words 14-26 and Mosiah 10:5. 

3rd day Doctrine and covenants 89 14-16. 

4th day. Hebrews 2:8, doctrine 

5th day. Proverbs 26:6 first 8 words. 

6th day of Christmas. Alma 58 versus 7-8. 

7th day. Alma 32:42 last 4 words. 

8th day. Malaci 3:2 last word or 3Nephi 24:2 last word, or Doctrine and Covenants 128:24. 

9th day Revelation 3:7. Word 29 until the end. 

Day 10. 1st Corinthians 11:14. 

Day 11 Isiah 54:16. Last 7 words. 

Day 12 is Deuteromeny 28:48 words 29-38. 

Letter from Caleb 11-12-12

Here is a letter I received handwritten in the mail, not by e-mail so it's taken me a little while to type it up.  I have changed the names for privacy of the individuals he is teaching.  So the person #1 will be Andrew and person #2 in the letter will be Tom.  P-Day is preperation day, the day you get everything done you don't normally do on a mission like wash your clothing, write letters home, check your e-mail (on your missionary e-mail account), shop at the store, etc.

Hola Famigla,

So Today was really tough.  It was P-Day, and after we went to In-N-Out and had Burgers.  Super good.  we went to the family history library to check our e-mail and print off stuff on the "other churches" for an understanding on what other churches believe.  Family history library is closed.  So we go to the commons and print it off.

Then we got a text from (a person we are teaching right now, real name hidden for privacy reasons,) Andrew.  This man takes care of a middle aged Deaf and Autistic man named (real name hidden for privacy)Tom.

Andrew is always nice when we go over to teach him.  And such a kind soul to take care of Tom.  Taking care of Tom is Andrew's income.

Tom died tonight at 6:30 p.m.  Andrew loved Tom.  I loved Tom.  And now he's just gone.  He had a heart attack and Andrew called 911, Did CPR and tried to bring him back.  Heavenly Father had other plans for Tom although.   Andrew is broken.  I've never seen a man just loose it, but now Andrew has nothing.  No family, no home now, no income, and no close friends.  He literally collapsed and lost it.  I feel such an overwhelming sense of loss for Andrew and for loosing Tom.

The only other time I've felt like this is when you told me that Laila was gone.  I hid it well, but every night for a week, I cried.  I kept asking God why he would take such a perfect thing, such a pure soul, from parents and a family who cared for her so much.  Being told she was in a better place didn't help much, even though it was true.  I didn't even know her.  The thought she was gone hurt, but it didn't even begin to compare to how I felt every time I thought of her Mom.  How difficult it must be for her to feel what she feels.  Knowing it's not her fault, but still wondering why she had to face such a significant trial.

Sometimes, when you are in the celestial room of the temple, if you close your eyes and listen, you can hear the whisperings of the spirit.  Sometimes, you can almost hear others, not physically in the room but present none the less.

When I was in the Provo Temple, I asked Heavenly Father for comfort and to know Laila was ok.  The spirit was so strong, I felt like when I opened my eyes I would see Jesus.  When I opened them, I didn't see him, but I felt the strongest feeling, and I realized that this was a House of the Lord.  Just because I haven't seen the Lord or Angels, doesn't mean they weren't there.  I know Tom is in a better place.  I am sorrowful not because he is gone, but because Andrew does not yet know what I know:  THAT HE LIVES! I wish I could grab Andrew by the shoulders and help him to understand that because of the magnificent love the Savior showed to us by completing the Atonement, we can be saved, and live again with our Father in Heaven, whose love for us is far beyond comprehension.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my God knows me personally, and listens to my prayers.  I have had experiences, inside and out of the temple that are too sacred to share, but if I can do nothing else, I wish to share my testimony to all who will hear it.

Heavenly Father knows who you are.  He has always and will forever.  He knows what you struggle with, what your fears are, even what your deepest secrets are.  He loves you and wants you to return to be with Him.  Never forget that, for he never forgets you.  Never fall short.  Never settle for anything less than you can be.

Mom and Dad, stop doing things to hurt yourself!  If you die before I'm done, too bad, I'm staying here on my mission until my purpose has been fulfilled   So stop tearing things, spraining things, and otherwise hurting yourself.

Love,

Elder Clark