Easter 2013 with the missionaries

We had a special dinner with the missionaries right after church.  Usually we feed them at dinner time, however there is a special Easter program at church tonight at 6p.m. right during while we were going to have dinner, so I changed plans and had a huge dinner at 1p.m.

I tried a couple new recipes.  First was the Bird's Nests.  You make them out of butterscotch chips, peanut butter and  chow mein noodles.  Then after they set up you put Robin Egg candies in them.  Too cute and they actually tasted really good and looked cute too.  I made a potato, ham and cheese casserole that I had never made before and it was really good.  I made a fruit salad, banana bread and there were three different vegetables to choose from which were raw carrots, raw broccoli that they could dip in a cucumber dip that my friend Tracy made from the Bridal shower from yesterday that we still had leftover.  I also had cooked peas, which I love by the way.  For dessert was a pumpkin pie.   I hope some nice family is feeding my oldest son who is on a mission in California.    Here are a few pictures:

The edible bird's nest with candy eggs.

Elder Smith and Brenden.

My famous deviled eggs

Most of the table.  Scott is on the left, with Alyssa.  Elder Smith
is at the end of the table and Brenden is sitting next to
Elder Stachitus.

Elder Stachitus who goes home just next month.

Elder Smith on his bike.

 Elder Smith

Elder Stachitus

Sweet short letter from Caleb

This sweet short letter totally made my day and I hope at some point in every Mom's life they receive a letter like this:

I just got the cookies today! I was so excited! This has been a hard week, and that made everything look up! Thank you so much mom, I miss you and love you so much. You are the best and I really do miss you. You are the best mother anyone could ask for, and I am starting to see how blessed I am to be in the family I have. I love you Mom.

Caleb

Naughty Abby

Because of this I was very late to work.  Not happy.

I did it

It was hard, but isn't everything having to do with exercise hard? I ran, completely ran, no walking at all, a 5K yesterday.

 Now you may think, big whoop, whatever you have ran a lot further in the past, like 22 miles. Well that was last year and as many of you know I had some major things happen between my 22 miler and yesterday. I had a major left ankle injury which included 3 high ankle sprains, a bone bruise, bone marrow edema, cyst in my knee that exploded, arthritis in my knee and ankle that hurt when I'm really cold, bone spur in the right ankle, and a blood clot in my calf.

 Because of all of that, I had to start over with getting back into cardiovascular exercise, so basically start over getting back into shape. I had also gained 18 pounds during all this, so I had to loose that weight. All of it isn't gone yet, but half of it is.

 Plus I had to relearn to walk correctly again, then I had to slowly learn to run again. It has been a HARD journey and one I don't want to repeat, nor would I wish any of my pain and suffering on anyone else. I definitely have more compassion for those who suffer with injuries.

 Anyway, I finally Ran an entire 5K again and I'm just so happy about it. Not only that, but my time was ok. I'm a girl who prefers to have 5K times under 30 minutes, but after these last crazy 4 months. I'm just happy to run again. Yesterday I cherished every moment.

 When it got really hard at around mile 2, I remembered not being able to run and how sad I was. I thought of those who can't run. Then I ran harder and my third mile was faster than the first two. I had an incredible feeling inside. One of pure joy. I found a pace that made me feel like I was flying and to me I was. How great I felt all day yesterday.

 Now today I woke up with sore legs, a stomach ache that just won't pass and a headache, but the thought of running again is one I am excited to try again for tomorrow. My next 5K is in 2 weeks. May I be faster and enjoy the journey once again.

I tried

I wanted to make Jason a Lemon Meringue pie. So I bought the ingredients and proceeded.   However when mixing the egg whites, I didn't read that you have to mix the 5 tablespoons of sugar into them while mixing and so I tried to add it later and it killed the egg whites.  Also, apparently I didn't cook the yellow lemon part long enough.  Whatever, dumb instructions didn't say how long to cook it.  Just said to make the yellow part come to a boil, then take a half cup out and mix it with the yolks of the eggs, then add that egg mixture back to the pan, come to a boil again and then cook until thick.  The dumb mixture was thick, super thick, so why it didn't set up one will never know.

So in the end the pie didn't work out.  I was upset because I was so set on making Jason a great pie that he loves.  Maybe in 21 more years I'll try it again.  I don't care for this type of pie which is why I've never made it before. Pictures of the experience:

Jason mixing the egg whites

The lemon part.

The egg white part.  

Jared's Girlfriend

Jared's Girlfriend Makalya.  I think she is awesome.

Letter from Caleb--March 18, 2013

What a crazy busy week. I am honestly exhausted. I got a new companion this last Tuesday, fresh out of the Missionary Training Center in Utah. He was only there for 2 weeks! Lucky goose. I was there for 3. His name is Elder Rast, and he is from Dallas Texas. With him being 6'2" and 245 lbs, and me being 6'1" and 230 lbs, I think we are two of the biggest missionaries in the mission. Not fat, just physically intimidating. I got him hooked up with an awesome bike too, and while he can't move that quickly yet, I know he will get there within a few months, and we are going to cruise. 

Elder Rast is honestly an answer to many prayers I have had over the last few weeks. I think it is honestly incredible how much Heavenly Father knows us, and how well we work together. I have been really thankful for the opportunities we have had to teach this week. 

A woman saw us on Saturday walking to go get a bike, and stopped us and talked to us for a few minutes. Then she invited us to go to "Ex-Mormons for Jesus, which just recently downsized to a new building." I told her no thank you, that we were "Current Mormons for Jesus" but that she and her friends were welcome to come to church with us whenever they pleased. She was very nice, but there was a coldness that seemed to emanate from her person. 

We had the opportunity to teach two lessons in church yesterday. One in "Young Men's Group" and one in "Gospel Essentials." I didn't know how either lesson would go, but I prayed that we would be able to have the spirit with us and teach with power. In Gospel Essentials, it started a little rocky, as Elder Rast and I  were trying to get into a pattern, but by the end of the lesson there was not a dry eye in the room. The spirit was so strong. We had a lot of people in the class who are not members of the church, and they seemed touched by the lesson. 

We have had a lot to do lately. I have been in a suit almost every day for the past 2 weeks, and me thinks it is time to get it dry cleaned. 

I am training now, which means my daily schedule has changed a little bit. I have two hours of companion study now (again) so in a typical day, we:

6:30- wake

6:30-8:00- workout, eat, shower.

8:00- personal study of the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Preach My Gospel (the missionary manual)

9:00- Companion study

11:00 Lunch

12:00-6:00- Tract, serve, teach

6:00- dinner at a members home

7:00-9:00- Tract, serve, teach

9:00- Daily Planning

9:30- Personal Time

10:30- Sleep

That is the schedule I have been following for almost 5 months, but for a few weeks while I wasn't being trained or training we only had one hour of companion study time.  Mondays are our time to prepare for the week by doing laundry, shopping, cleaning, emailing and doing sports. 

We had a really good dinner with a member last night. The food was good, but the message that we shared was really sweet. I asked Elder Rast to lead out, and he talked about good things to come, and shared the "Mormon Message" that pertained to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nczw6xHJ0I

I tried to paste it, but it seems that in 5 months, my proficiency with a computer has certainly decreased. Turns out when you use something only once or twice a week, you loose skills. The family expressed how they really needed to hear that message right then. The mother said they were going through a really tough time, but that it was comforting to hear that better things were coming and that they just needed to hold on. It is so amazing to me how the spirit works, and how incredible lessons are when the spirit is with us. 

We taught 16 lessons this week, including 9 lessons with a member present, which is pretty good. We also got 3 new investigators (people who are learning about our beliefs).

I am so thankful for the things that we have been able to do out here. I feel so blessed to be here in California, doing the things that we are doing. I feel so blessed to be serving others and spreading the Gospel. 

Got to go, but I love you all! Please write either by mail or here on email! My mom has the mailing address and will be glad to give it out. 

With love,

Elder J. Caleb Clark

Finalist in a National Contest

Alyssa is a finalist in a National Contest.  Below is a link to a video she made with a friend and they really want to win, so please vote for their video.

Alyssa wrote:

Hey! Today is the first day of voting for the video my friends Zhanna, Zofia, and I made for a contest about why we think engineering is cool. Show your congrats by voting for our video here: http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/310071/voteable_entries/65571126

Why WE think S.T.E.M. is cool!!!

promoshq.wildfireapp.com

Several things

I want to try and blog more, just because.  Today several things are on my mind so I'm just going to write about those things.


1.   I wanted to say that my injury in my left ankle is much better.  I usually still feel some pain once in a while, but for the most part it is a happy ankle.  I taught Zumba today again for the 4th time this week and I realized during teaching that I didn't feel pain today.  So I'm grateful for that, super grateful.

I ran this week and it wasn't in intervals of walking some and running some, it was just plain running all.  So that was nice and refreshing to just run 3 miles and only feel the ankle a little bit.

2.  My weight that I gained (18 pounds) to be exact during my injury is slowly coming off so that is great and I'm feeling better all the time.  I used to linger between 140 and 145 which for me is a great weight.  All the charts say I should be 120 to 130 for my height, but seriously I don't think those take into account muscle mass and I was lifting all the time.  I was a size 6 and felt good most of the time so I was happy with that weight.   However then I got a massive injury and gained weight and it wasn't just a little, it was 18 pounds.  You may be thinking 18 isn't bad.  Well it was for me. I was sad, mad and worried I'd never see the 140's again.

Well I knew I needed to eat better, for that has always been my hardest thing so I'm eating as clean as possible meaning trying not to eat processed foods.  I have had some, but very little.  Also, eating many fruits and vegetables a day.  Some meals have been all fruits and vegetables and I have to say that I feel so good.  So amazingly good.  AND I've lost 10 pounds in 2 months so that is what I'm really excited about.  My current weight is 152 so I still have more to loose, but hey I'm getting there.

3.  I'm exercising more.  I'm teaching usually 3 Zumba classes a week on average and several Body Sculpt classes, trying to fit in a run once in a while, some time on my elliptical machine and some swimming.  I need to make some time to bike and hoping for good weather soon so I can do that outside.

4.  My 2nd oldest child just turned 18 and that feels weird to me,  hopefully now that he is technically an adult he will make good choices like an adult should so he can live a long happy life.

5.  Today I had the opportunity to take a girl that I visit teach out to lunch.  I had such a good time getting to know her.   I haven't done something like this in a really long time.  My companion couldn't come with me so it was just me and her.  We went to a great place for lunch called Pita Pit and I choose a Black Bean Burger on a wheat Pita with tons of vegetables in it, so  it was all vegetarian.  I skipped the sour cream and cheese and just had a little bit of ranch and chipotle sauce in it and it was perfect and tasted really good.

6.  I hope it warms up soon because it's been super cold in Iowa this year.  Last year in March we had a few warm 60-70 degree weeks and that was so nice.  This year it's just freezing and I'm ready for Spring.

Letter from Caleb--March 11, 2013

Elder Caleb Clark is our oldest son serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His mission call was to the Anaheim, California mission and currently is in Santa Ana.  He has been out a little over 4 months now.  He is still serving in his very first area, but will soon be transferred to a new area.  Every Monday he writes home and I usually copy his letters here for all to see, unless there is private stuff.  I change names for privacy as well.

So there is so much to tell you this week. First off, here is the most exciting news, at least for me.

As of Thursday, March 7th, the church released new policy concerning e-mail. We can now email family AND friends, for a total of 2 HOURS on P-day! This is huge, and while I will not have 2 hours today (due to what you will read in the rest of my email) expect better letters in the future. 

Can you please get me Brad and Ryan's mission emails? 

While I have more time, most of the time I am allotted will be spent on family first. The best way to get a response from me will remain mailing me a letter, but I will do my best to email.

My mission address is:

Elder J. C. Clark

2500 North Bristol Street

Santa Ana CA 92706-1409

Ok, other sweet (and slightly terrifying news):

I have been called to train a new Elder in Palmyra East. This is really exciting, but also really scary as I am still a pretty young missionary, and the prospect of training a new one (especially one that was only in the MTC for 2 weeks!) scares the daylights out of me. This also means that I will be staying in my first area, Palmyra, for another 3 months at least. 5 transfers (a transfer is usually 6 weeks) in the same area! Wow. 

I will be picking up my new companion tomorrow. There are so many new missionaries coming out this transfer that for the first time, missionaries are going to the office instead of the Mission Home for their first interview. Then, instead of having a meeting with the trainers and the new missionaries, we are just getting called by the APs (Assistants to the President) to come pick them up as soon as their interview is done. I am pretty excited, but also really nervous. I hope my new companion is not bad on bike. 

Other mission news: 

I'm pretty sure there was an earthquake today, but I don't know. 

Oh, and the whole "New Mission" thing.

So a few weeks ago, the Church announced 58 new missions around the world. Thats kind of a big deal, but it's an even bigger deal for us since one of them is the newly announced "California Irvine Mission". Currently, we have Irvine and Newport in our mission, but come July 1, we lose the Irvine and Newport Stakes to the new mission. President Bowen clarified today that he has been asked by the General Authorities to keep running the mission as if there is no split coming, and then July 1st, those areas will slip away. Any missionaries serving in those areas will become part of the California Irvine Mission. I hope I get to stay around here, as I really love it here.

While it is on my mind, Rosie, I got your letter today. Becca, I got both of yours, and am busy responding. expect a response in a week.

Something exciting: 

A missionary gave me a waffle iron because it was broken, and said there was nothing I could do to fix it. 30 minutes later, I have a working waffle iron, and I AM MAKING WAFFLES TOMORROW, I DON'T CARE IF IT MAKES ME LATE TO STUDIES, I WANT WAFFLES. 

(I feel strongly about this)

I am so excited to have a waffle iron!

I have not bought groceries in two weeks. I have eaten lots of rice and noodles, including spaghetti noodles, but plain because I had no sauce. Bleh.

Hmm, what else is interesting....

Oh!

So I have been praying for weeks to be able to find a family to teach, and that if I couldn't find them, for them to find me. A few weeks ago, we were riding our bikes to a dinner when a Mexican woman stopped us and asked if she could meet with us sometime. We were really surprised, but said sure and got her address and information and scheduled a time to meet. Turns out, she lives just across the street from us, was baptized a few years ago, but has two children who are not baptized who really want to get baptized. We taught the first lesson and scheduled a return appointment. We returned for the appointment later, but she was working, and we realized we wouldn't be able to see her till next week. Elder Healey got really sick, then I got really sick and we were expecting that we wouldn't be able to see her that week. Yesterday I got a call from the Santa Ana 10 Sisters, who are the Spanish ward sisters who cover our area as well. They told us of a family they knocked into and taught the 3rd lesson to and had two kids who now have a baptism date of the 30th. Apparently Heavenly Father really wanted that family visited last week! We now have 4 investigators with a baptismal date! Super exciting. 

We have no interesting tracting stories. We have been cussed out a lot more frequently lately, but its funny for me. It's really funny how some people can't think of anything worth saying, so they have to drop to swearing. It makes me feel bad for them. 

I have to get going, because I still have a letter to president to type, and  we are already 3 hours behind today. Got to go, but expect more next week! Love you all, and hope you are doing well in the snow! I love the weather here, but wish it was actually a little cooler! 

Elder Clark

Letter from Caleb--March 4th, 2013

Elder Caleb Clark is our oldest son serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His mission call was to the Anaheim, California mission and currently is in Santa Anna.  He has been out a little over 4 months now.  He is still serving in his very first area, but will soon be transferred to a new area.  Every Monday he writes home and I usually copy his letters here for all to see, unless there is private stuff.  I change names for privacy as well.

Dear Family,

I certainly don't miss the snow. It bites, and I am so thankful to be riding my bike around such beautiful weather. Driving here is so much fun, since speed limits are so high and most of the vehicles are nice. I hate the corollas though, because 1 in 5 makes that grinding noise when you hit the brakes, like ours (at home) does. I would be worried about (your child you mentioned) on the snow too, since I know for a fact that the brakes on my lumina are scary. In the ditch once is all it takes to scare you for a while.

So I did get a package today, and I love it. It is freaking awesome, and I love the green. There are tons of really useful things in there, and I can tell you spent lots of time working on getting it all together. I am thankful to have an NDAC shirt, especially one with our company name on it. That was super cool to see. 

Last week went alright. I am excited for this transfer to be over so I feel like time is actually passing. 

Dinner last night was one of the funnest dinners I have ever had. The whole table was in tears half the time, and I was actually impressed with the quick wit I had last night. Clearly, it died when I went to sleep, but it was awesome while it lasted. 

My lungs are quite nice. I'd say they are about 420 grams. Probably 8/10, but I don't know what a person really looks for in lungs. I mean, they are quite pink, and inflatable, which is probably what you want...

Yay taxes! Oh man, that's got to be fun! I wonder how much the man will give back to me this time? Probably not much; I hear capitol hill went to the crapper this past December. 

Ok, so the brunt of my letter:

So we had some wicked winds a last week. I wouldn't bike over bridges because the winds were blowing so hard. I hopped off and walked over them with my bike. Scary stuff. At my six month mark I am going to take my bike in to get a tune-up. I am hearing some strange sounds from the crank, and I think the pressure on the bottom bracket needs adjusted, but I don't know how to do that, and would not be comfortable doing it for the first time on my own bike. 

We had a family make us breakfast for dinner last week, and I wanted to cry the waffles were so good. I got really trunky remembering how Mom makes them, and the sensation of waking up to the smell of waffles. I really want a waffle iron. 

I'm dying without music. I hope to get a pair of cheap but semi good speakers from Wal-mart so I can actually listen to music. I am literally dying.

We had president interviews two weeks ago, which went well.

We had dinner at a members house 2 weeks ago in which the first thing the member said was "Hey, make yourselves at home, we have TV, Porn, really anything you want."

Kinda set the tone for the evening. At one point his wife said "I sometimes wonder if I should cry from the stuff he says" but she was joking. Immediately, Sister (Andrews) says "I would" and I lose it. I spit cream soda all over the table and collapse laughing. I ruined a tie, but it was totally worth it. I have never laughed so hard in my life. 

I got a hair cut and it looks gnar.

I have no groceries this week, mostly because I am concerned I have to move this next week and I didn't want to bring stuff with me. 

Could you send me the game of uno, and an orabrush? 

I have to go get laundry detergent. 

Love you so much!