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