Brownsville, Letter 14
¡Hola Familia y Amigos!
So sorry for the lack of an email last week. It was a crazy week with unique challenges, but great all the same!
This week was great as always! We saw many miracles. This week was absolutely full of ups and downs but in reality, there are so many good things happening in our area. It's definitely a unique area with unique challenges, but it really is special to be here!
This week I've just seen how the Spirit guides us. This is something I've seen continually in my mission and something that continued to impress me this week, was that the Spirit is always speaking to us if we will just listen! We have been guided and our words have been given to us by the Spirit in the very moment we needed them.
This week I've also been amazed at the perspective the Plan of Salvation gives us. I've learned that when we are teaching people, our job is to find their spiritual reset button and push it, because we aren't teaching them anything new - we are teaching them things they already know, but have forgotten. We had one sweet experience with a young man we ran into at a gas station, and our teaching experiences have been really sweet, because I've just seen the spiritual reset button being pushed, and it's like things are clicking back into place. When we taught about Repentance, he said, "oh, like Scrooge!" And as I thought about it, I thought that was a perfect allegory for repentance! It is a true change of heart and a forsaking of sin - mostly it is turning to God and in the process changing ourselves.
This week I want to testify of the ministering of angels - it is REAL. Before I came on my mission, I had not really caught the Family History bug, but through many experiences this past 2 weeks I have begun to learn the power of knowing your ancestors - and also that the ministering of angels is real. God sends His emissaries to help, comfort and protect us - especially His missionaries. I have felt it and experienced it, and I feel like my heart and my love for my family, on this side of the veil and on the other side, has grown tremendously. I know we have been protected by God and His emissaries He has sent.
Our area right now is looking fantastic! We have many wonderful investigators and the work is moving along wonderfully. The Lord is blessing us with lots and lots of work to do! Now our task is to rise up to it.
Speaking of which, we had Zone Conference this week and it was fantastic! We talked about the law of sacrifice, and how sacrifice is giving up one thing for another thing we believe to have greater value. President said how the law of sacrifice is a celestial law, and sacrifice works according to our own personal value systems - if we are unhappy with a decision we have made, it is because we do not really believe the thing we chose to be of greater value than the thing we left behind. So if we are unhappy on our missions, or unhappy in the gospel, we need to reprioritize our personal value system and put God at the center, #1, and then we will be happy. The good thing is is that I am happy here!!! I am happy on my mission, I am happy in the work of the Lord. I am blessed to have His name on my heart.
I love you all! ¡Les quiero muchísimo!
¡Tengan una buena semana!
Hermana Clarke
Write to Rachelle at rachelle.clarke@myldsmail.net
So sorry for the lack of an email last week. It was a crazy week with unique challenges, but great all the same!
This week was great as always! We saw many miracles. This week was absolutely full of ups and downs but in reality, there are so many good things happening in our area. It's definitely a unique area with unique challenges, but it really is special to be here!
This week I've just seen how the Spirit guides us. This is something I've seen continually in my mission and something that continued to impress me this week, was that the Spirit is always speaking to us if we will just listen! We have been guided and our words have been given to us by the Spirit in the very moment we needed them.
This week I've also been amazed at the perspective the Plan of Salvation gives us. I've learned that when we are teaching people, our job is to find their spiritual reset button and push it, because we aren't teaching them anything new - we are teaching them things they already know, but have forgotten. We had one sweet experience with a young man we ran into at a gas station, and our teaching experiences have been really sweet, because I've just seen the spiritual reset button being pushed, and it's like things are clicking back into place. When we taught about Repentance, he said, "oh, like Scrooge!" And as I thought about it, I thought that was a perfect allegory for repentance! It is a true change of heart and a forsaking of sin - mostly it is turning to God and in the process changing ourselves.
This week I want to testify of the ministering of angels - it is REAL. Before I came on my mission, I had not really caught the Family History bug, but through many experiences this past 2 weeks I have begun to learn the power of knowing your ancestors - and also that the ministering of angels is real. God sends His emissaries to help, comfort and protect us - especially His missionaries. I have felt it and experienced it, and I feel like my heart and my love for my family, on this side of the veil and on the other side, has grown tremendously. I know we have been protected by God and His emissaries He has sent.
Our area right now is looking fantastic! We have many wonderful investigators and the work is moving along wonderfully. The Lord is blessing us with lots and lots of work to do! Now our task is to rise up to it.
Speaking of which, we had Zone Conference this week and it was fantastic! We talked about the law of sacrifice, and how sacrifice is giving up one thing for another thing we believe to have greater value. President said how the law of sacrifice is a celestial law, and sacrifice works according to our own personal value systems - if we are unhappy with a decision we have made, it is because we do not really believe the thing we chose to be of greater value than the thing we left behind. So if we are unhappy on our missions, or unhappy in the gospel, we need to reprioritize our personal value system and put God at the center, #1, and then we will be happy. The good thing is is that I am happy here!!! I am happy on my mission, I am happy in the work of the Lord. I am blessed to have His name on my heart.
I love you all! ¡Les quiero muchísimo!
¡Tengan una buena semana!
Hermana Clarke
Write to Rachelle at rachelle.clarke@myldsmail.net
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| Alex, one of their investigators. They found him at the HEB grocery store. He works there, and he sees them every week. Rachelle says he's their best friend at the store. He bought them a watermelon knife and a watermelon this week because he noticed them looking at those items last week. |
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| Grilling with the Reguenes Family |
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| A door approach in South Texas. |
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| It's only spring in South Texas! |
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| Sister Clarke (left) and Sister Clark (right) -- Zone Sisters |
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| Add caption |
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| District Sisters |
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| This is one of the girls they are teaching. She is getting baptized on June 10th. |
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| These girls are getting baptized on June 10th. |
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| This is what they were teaching the sisters after church. Amen. |
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| On their way to a Mexican Market. Rachelle said everybody stared at the two white girls who were shopping there. |
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| Eating lunch at the Mexican Market |
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| Not sure what this is. Not sure Rachelle knows either. |
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| More exotic foods at the Mexican Market |
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| District Sisters |
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| Rachelle's MTC BFF: Hermana Turrini-Crane |
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| No caption needed |
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| No idea what this is, but she sent it, so I'm including it. |
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| P-Day with her zone at the Zoo. |
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| P-Day With her zone at the zoo |
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