Feeling kinda GREEN

I just LOVE St. Patrick's Day! Why? I really don't know.  I think part of it is knowing that it's always in March, it's always a sign that Spring is coming and everything will turn Green.  I wanted to do a fun and unique package for my son who is on a mission in Anaheim, CA.  So everywhere I went I found green items and bought them.   I had so much fun with this and went a little overboard as you will see.

Today was the final stop.  I went to Wal-Mart  and got green wrapping paper to wrap a few items and stuff the box.  I finished stuffing the box and made a really cute mailing label for it then headed to the post office.

There were three choices to mail the HUGE box.  $29.50 for Parcel post, $43.00 for Priority, $108.00 for Express.  Which mail service did I pick?  The slowest of course, but even then I was told it will be there on Monday the 4th.  I just couldn't believe how much it was.  Wow postage sure has gone up.  Anyway.  I paid an extra $2.45 for insurance and I have a tracking number so this package better arrive.  Below are pictures to show all the stuff inside the package.

Five wrapped up gifts.  The top thing was green
plastic bowls and green plastic spoons.  The item
that says YUM on it is a package of Green Shamrock
shortbread cookies.  The item that says "So you won't get
pinched" is a Green Tie.  The item that says "Just in
case your friends are still visiting." is Ant poison since in
a past letter he had quite the trouble with Ants in his
apartment.  The present on the bottom  is a Green Mach 3
razor and Green Mach 3 razor blades. 

Mint m&m's, Caramel Apple Pops, three packages of different green gum,
green Kool-Aid, Chili flavor Ramen noodles, Pop Rocks, Sour skittles, Lucky
Charms cereal, Mini mint 3 musketeers, tic tacs, suckers and all the green
jolly ranchers from a bag.

Disinfecting wipes, speed stick deoderant, shamrock window clings, dishcloth,
towel, hot pad, hand sanitizer, hand lotion shaving cream, green toothbrush,
toothpaste, scope green floss.  Free Green Veridian Credit Union Bank pens.

Sour cream and onion pringles, blistex, apple Austrailan licorice, kleenex, pear
jelly bellies, notebook, green pen with green ink, mints, jello, pudding, apple
cinnamon oatmeal, salt and pepper, almonds.  Oh and there was Green
Shampoo and Conditioner that I probably shouldn't have mailed because
of how heavy it was, but I knew he would use it and I'm obviously addicted
to buying green stuff.

The package and just in case you need his address so you can send him
something fun or useful, there it is.  If there are perishable items in your packages
please mark that on the box.  Oh NO I just realized I NEVER put my return address
on the package.  Whoops, hope nothing happens to that package.  Dang.

Letter from Caleb 2-25-13

(I'm answering questions)

Gas is $4.45 here, don't complain :P We don't have a car in our area, but if we did, each car has a gas card.

We did football last week, this week we are doing basketball. I'm terrible at sports but I enjoy it a lot. Mondays I also draw lighting plots and stuff for spectra, because I can :)

I freaking loved the dove chocolates.

I need a set of measuring cups (Not all the apartments have them) and I would like a waffle Iron. 

I loved the valentine package. I have two inhalers right now and don't use them often, but one every 3 months or so would do me pretty well. Allergy medicine I run through really fast. That walfederen was amazing, but I used it really fast. The last week has been awful for allergies. I am sick (does it ever end?!) again from allergies.

I don't really care about Social Media. It's amazing how much we rely on it, but really it doesn't matter at all. Not having a phone or the internet is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can focus for once!

How did Jacob do DJing at the indoor triathalon? Can you guys send me a shirt from it?

We had a cool experience on Saturday! We went on exchanges and our district leader came to my area. We had to move someone on Saturday morning, so we had to post-pone our studies. We were going to do them after lunch, but I had a feeling like we should do some tracting instead. We tracted for a few hours, taught 2 lessons, and then decided to head home. We were in our lessons for 20 minutes when we got a knock on our door. A tired looking man asked for help moving. He said he was a member and had struggled to get in contact with the ward in this area, so he didn't have help. He said they were moving from Torrance (near LA). I said we could help, so we changed and I called the Elders Quorum President. I explained the situation, and he said he would see what he could do. We find out that the people who were moving are named Brother and Sister Johnson, and that they are computer techs. They were moving into the apartment across from us. He said he had been fasting and praying that he would be able to find help for the move on this side, and that when he showed up at the complex he felt like he should knock on our door. Normally we wouldn't have even been home at that time, but because we had decided to tract earlier and move our lessons to when we did, we were in a position to help him out! It was such a moving experience to see so many ward members show up less than half an hour after I had made one call to one man. We made short work of a U-Haul and two pickup trucks. I am so glad I have been more diligent in working out lately, because there were some heavy things on that truck! The cool thing was when I was moving a full tower case for a computer and thought I recognized the backplane of the computer. I jokingly said it looked like an EVGA 750i FTW motherboard backplane (which I recognized because I had that one in my second build) and brother Johnson looked at me with awe and asked me how the heck I knew, as that was exactly what was in the computer. Hahaha, I honestly wonder if I made an inspired decision when I picked that Motherboard now...

Yesterday brought the worst Santa Ana winds we have had yet. I got really sick from not being able to breath, to the point where we exchanged again with Santiago Creek so I could be in a car (I couldn't do bike without breath). Its nice though cause the mountains are exposed because the winds blew away all the smog. 

I apologize that this email is not that long, but my district leader is being a word I can't say and I have to go. I have a lot to say, but perhaps I will be better organized next week.

Love, Elder Clark

Abby is 2 years old

Abby is 2 years old and such a gorgeous dog who loves snow.

Another letter from Caleb (written on 2-15-13) arrived on 2-19-13

Dear Family,

It was really Hot today!  85 degrees, and the Santa Ana winds gusted all night and morning.  There were gusts at 50 mph!  It was a gorgeous day.  Bright blue sky, warm gusts, and of course, when the winds come you can see the mountains and Los Angeles up North.  It's such a beautiful sight, I kinda wish it was P-Day so we could go on a hike.  I love the smell that comes from days like this.

Last night was Valentines day, apparently no one tells us that kind of thing, but suddenly it makes sense why no one signed up for dinner and why knocking was fruitless, and why 1 dozen roses were advertised at $70 on Chapman at Noon and $125 by 5p.m.

Some awesome news:  I got green dotted to drive!  Further, I drove from the office to our apartment and used freeways and did well.  I believe if you can drive in Cali, you can drive anywhere.  Motorcycles can legally lane split here and it's the scariest thing.  Our mission, which was supposed to be cut to 45 cars from 67, will have 92 by May, in an effort to hasten the work.  I love biking though.

We have been doing lots of service.  We have no one to teach, which is a real bummer.  We taught 6 lessons last week.  We are trying our best, but we literally gave the part of our area where work actually happens to the sisters.  Speaking of the sister missionaries, I'm getting really frustrated with the ones that took most of our area.  They're really self-righteous and mean.  The Ward was really excited to get sisters, and as such seems to have forgotten me.  Much of the work we did is being attributed to the sisters efforts, including the 3 baptisms we scheduled.  We let the sisters announce the baptisms in ward council, since they have taken over teaching responsibilities.  A woman said, "A few days in the ward and they are already getting more work done than the Elders.  It's so nice to finally have good missionaries in the ward again!"  She was talking to a woman sitting next to her and clearly wasn't expecting us to hear, but if I can pick out a subtle 3rd trombone in a Jazz Band, then I'm going to be able to hear an annoying woman who doesn't understand how the world works.

That was the first time I've been mad on my mission, so what I did was I tried to picture the woman as a little kid in a diaper, who had just wet herself but was blaming it on everyone else.  My resulting laugh out  loud by me, could have been better placed (ie:, not when others were talking about a ward member who was dying.) but I felt better.

Today we did service for other members.  A ward member had a 911 Porsche  and gave us a ride.  He took it to 100 mph in a street and said not to tell his wife.  I have now decided I want a convertible.  After service, we knocked on doors for almost 4 hours.  It was fruitless, but at least we are trying.

I'm making an ice cream cake tonight as I write this.

I love the package you sent for Valentines day.  I just discovered the Dove Chocolate.  It is my favorite thing in the world.

Dad, you would love all the bike shops here.  There's got to be one every few blocks!

I've had lots of weird dreams lately.  One was about Grandpa Clark and he had fallen on the ice and was in the hospital, but he was trying to bribe the doctors with Grandma Clark's cooking.  He did not want to be there.

I'm out of room  :(Also because I want to mail this out tomorrow)  Love you guys so much!  I hope everyone is doing alright!

(Elder) J. Caleb Clark

Letter from Caleb 2-18-13

Below is the letter I received from my son Caleb who is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for two years in Anaheim, CA.

Just so you know before you read this, I usually write him about every 3 days, so a couple times a week.  Last week I didn't write him at all, not one line.  So his first line of his letter is him saying, "Hey Mom, what the heck?"


Here is the letter:


No questions this week for me to respond to, probably because you're mad at me. It's ok, I'll still email, because I still love you. Last week was a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work. We knocked a combined 16 hours throughout the week, and we didn't meet a single person who could turn into a potential investigator. In a lot of ways it has been a rough week for us, but in others it's been a really good one. We have had lots of opportunities to serve the members, but not any opportunities to teach. I am trying to stay happy, but it's kinda hard. 

This week I made lots of food. Like actually cooked stuff, and that's exciting. I even made an ice cream cake, but then Elder Hanson left our freezer open and it was ruined (as well as all my frozen stuff). It is so ridiculously hard to keep food in the apartment, as constantly other missionaries come over and eat it. I keep telling them they would have more money for food if they didn't waste it all at fast food every day. 

I'm having a lot of trouble sleeping. I'm exhausted. I think it has something to do with the air changing. It's pretty much spring here now, which I've been told lasts about a week before fire season/summer. It has been kinda rainy, but the trees are all flowering. I love the fact that people have huge rose bushes here that have flowers on them.

I'm pretty worn out, and because we haven't had many chances to teach, we haven't had many experiences I could share :( Please pray for us, as we are really struggling to find people to teach.

Elder Zohner included this little tidbit:

  HI MOM! I LOVE YOU! LOVE ELDER KALEB :)

He goes home in 22 days. He is pretty excited. 

I have no idea what to tell you about. Normally there are questions for me to answer, but now there are none. 

I have enjoyed the 2 times I have gotten to drive here. One was a Car, the other a big truck. I love it. I need shampoo and conditioner. Should I buy that?

I would really like a waffle Iron. I miss waffles so much. 

I have been using that kitchen timer as an alarm clock and it actually works a lot better than I expected it to. I've been getting to sleep around 3 or 4 in the morning lately though because I have so much going through my mind, so I've been sleeping through it. Elder Healey took a video of him slapping me to wake me up, but I slept right through it. If only he knew all it takes is turning the fan off. 

Can you or part of the extended family send me stories about our family history? 

Dad, will you be sending me a bike book, or should I buy one myself?

Some of the investigators we handed off to the Sisters are progressing really well. I love Sid, and I pray every night that things will get better between him and his wife. I know she can feel the spirit, and I want her to know she can feel that more constantly.

Gah I'm exhausted.

Ok, I'm being pulled. Got to go, please send me questions for next week!

Love, Elder Clark

Jason's Birthday, Nov. 10th, 2012

I forgot to post about Jason's birthday back in November. Only 3 months late right?  He wanted a tool drawer chest thing for the garage, so I got him that.  I also found that awesome license plate holder thing for the van.  He is officially 42 now that I'm finally posting this.  I think he looks really young in these pictures.

Letter from Caleb 2-11-13

This letter was much longer, but some stuff was just for me and for the other siblings privately.

Here is the rest of the letter from Elder Caleb Clark serving in the Anaheim, California Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Yes, I ate dog. It's not actually that bad, but I probably wouldn't have eaten it if I had known I had pet that dog a few days prior. Also, I wouldn't have eaten it if I had known it was a dog. Cat, maybe. That's because I hate cats. Monopoly must be ruined now.

I am feeling much better. On a scale of one to ten, its like an 8.

I love my bike and am thankfully still on it. I needed to fill out paperwork to get "green dotted" for driving out here. I ordered my driving record and got it, and apparently I have a clear driving record. I'm not sure how this is possible as I have a ticket from Linn County that I had to pay in August, but maybe it is because it was only 5 over. I should get green dotted soon, as not only do I have a clear record, I also have more driving experience than most missionaries who come out here, having driven all kinds of vehicles, bobcats, hi-loaders, forklifts, and towed trailers and boats. 

The only way my bike could be doing better is if I had a repair book so I actually knew how to tune it up. It needs a tune up but I don't know what I'm doing and I refuse to pay 70 bucks.

I did get the money you transferred, and I am grateful for it. I spent money on my driving record and supplies, since I was out of paper (missionaries use a lot of that stuff!) and I ran out of ink for the first time in my life with my favorite pen. I think I'm alright for now, but we will see as I get closer to the end of the month. I honestly don't understand how you could afford to live here, as everything is so dang expensive. I used my first haircut on the 20th of Jan., and I am still on my 4th roll of TP. I have no idea how these rolls last so long, as that dumb charmin stuff is gone in a week. Those things have been huge helps as I have been out here. On Thursdays we have district meeting and after we have district lunch. Usually I try to either not get anything or get something really cheap because I am trying to stretch my money. Last week we went to Five Guys though, and I had to get one of the burgers everyone was telling me about. It was really good, but I can't believe I let them talk me out of 12 bucks! That's almost ten percent of what I get in a month for all my expenses. Never again.

I hope you feel better. I can't imagine leg injuries are that much fun.

I can't believe how little time we have each week to email. I plan on writing a letter home this week. 

Love you! 

Elder Clark

Letter and Pictures from Caleb 2-4-13

Picture at Silverado Canyon

Wild Parrots, we see them all the time.

This is a picture we got of my district last transfer, after a hike.

Dear Family,

Transfer calls happened Saturday Night. It was nerve-racking, but the worst was that my District leader told me I was being transfered and then told me he was joking. I got my hopes up for nothing. Also another change is that sisters are now serving in the ward with us.

They split our area, and we lost all of our investigators, and now are beginning the process of finding again. They originally split the area at the 55, but Elder Healey complained and it was changed to Tustin. So now we have one investigator, Nick, who has a date of August. Hahaha...

 The original split gave us one fourth of our area, and now we have a third. I don't get it, because we are more physically fit, but now the Sisters on bike have a bigger area. Oh and Elder Healey, my trainer, and I are companions for a third transfer! Maybe he will learn to wash the dishes this time? My district leader is now a zone leader somewhere else, and Elder Herron is now my district leader. He is Trio-training with Elder Cannon in S. Creek.

 We had Stake Confrence this last Sunday. We had 5 investigators there (of course now they are all the Sisters) and it was a really good meeting, until the old man who said the prayer talked about the 1st resurrection for 5 min. *Facepalm* "What does that mean?" Sid asked. "Well to be honest, I'm going to have to do quite a bit of research myself..." I replied.


 Today has been a long day. We are moving apartments in a few weeks, at which point one of us will be transfered out of the area rather soon as well. We have decided to focus on serving the members as a way to gain trust for referals. Referals are where the real work gets done. I am so glad for the experience I have from my life. A few days ago I fixed a sprinkler for a member that was damaged from a palm tree root. It had cracked the pipe, so I made Elder Healey dig, cut the pipe, and stand in the water while I did the easy stuff. Thats what he gets for not knowing how to do basic things.


 My goal is to learn how to cook while I'm out here so that when I get back I can be awesome at it. I made chicken, and it was good. I cheated though, because I boiled it almost all the way cooked and then put it in the oven. A member suggested it to me to keep it tender all the way through but to also have it not be raw or overdone anywhere. Oh it was so good!

 You asked what foods I have tried? Well, I had liver for the first time. It's not actually that bad. I've had dog (her name was cuddles, but she was nicknamed puddles because she peed everywhere), I've had the best mexican food in the world, and I've had burgers. I don't really get pizza or spaghetti.

I made chili a few days ago and seperated it out into serving size bags and froze most of it. It was easy (3/4 lb 85/15 beef, can of tomato sauce, 4 cans of beans that I found for 79 cents, and a little chili powder and cumin. So fast and so good! Cheap too! Sister Yuen (a ward member) taught me how to make a traditional mexican dish that I can't remember the name for but have the recipe for at home. It was delish.

 Sister Cannon is going to teach me how to make Krispy Kremes (Which they have out here and are delicious). I have had oranges off the tree, avacados off trees, limes, lemons, and all sorts of fun things. I even tried a tomato, and liked it. I didn't really like it, but it was edible.

I think when you go on a mission, the Lord blesses you with the gift to not care about what you eat, because it all somehow tastes great. Except one meal that we had, which hurt my insides and which was gross. AND THEN SHE SERVED APPLE PIE WITH CHEDAR CHEESE ON IT. That was not great. I thought "K" from Men in Black was kidding when he ordered that at the diner...

 The work is going great. Well it was, and now we have quite a bit of work to do, but we will get it done. I am excited for the changes that are happening in the mission. Got to go, but I hope you enjoy my letter! Elder Clark