Brownsville, Letter 17

Sandbagging for their next door neighbors during the Brownsville floods this past week.

The Highlights:

Flooded out of apartments---Moving to a new apartment every single day this week---Temporary Trio---Two baptisms---She's training!---Miracles---Lots of pictures after the letter!!!

¡Hola Familia y Amigos!

Wow. I don't even know what to say about these last two weeks. They have been by far the craziest two weeks of my mission, last week was so crazy that I didn't get to send a group email. We have had lots of amazing spiritual experiences, and I have stopped trying to tell about all of them because now they just pile up, and I don't know how to even begin telling about them. Suffice it to say that God is real. He is absolutely real. And even as He throws us curveballs sometimes, I am always amazed at how He is in the intimate details of the happenings of our lives, of the lives of our investigators, and the progress of the area.

Last week was a roller coaster ride. We had interviews with President Torres on Wednesday, which were life changing, and President Torres is incredible. The week was crazy, and on that SundayAshlee and Aly were baptized! After working long and hard for it, these two incredible daughters of God followed the example of their Savior and promised to follow Him. This has been a beautiful step for their family. Their family is living proof that the Gospel and the Spirit can absolutely change lives and bring hope and light where there was once darkness. So, last week, the roller coaster ended with two baptisms and a surprise emergency transfer - and I got a new companion for the last week, Sister Flinders! She is awesome! Little did I know all the adventures we would go on together!

This last week started out with a new companion, and tropical storm warnings coming our way! We had a great start to the week, and Tuesday the rains and floods started coming to Brownsville. The streets and everything started flooding! We know there were definitely angels pushing our car through the streets, because our car was like a boat, we had a wake and everything, and we definitely should not have been able to drive through those rivers. The next day, the storms got so bad we had to stop working, and we came home and sandbagged the outside of our apartment just in time for the floods to come - but it wasn't enough to stop our apartment from flooding! At least all our stuff didn't get ruined! Our neighbors were in pretty bad shape, so as soon as we finished putting sandbags around our apartment, we went out into the storm and started grabbing them for our neighbors. I have to say I've never had so much fun getting totally flooded before! Haha, it was awesome. Our apartment was totally flooded, and so we went to stay with the other sisters that night and packed up all our stuff and were out of there the next day! The next day the storms were back and so we had to seek refuge in a member's house, then move our stuff into another of the Sister's apartments. The next day, we had, surprise, another emergency transfer!!! So we moved again, this time into a trio, and Sister Galvan was back with me and Sister Flinders, to finish out the transfer! To cover both the Spanish area and our English area together - which is actually the entire zone. Then we had to move again to get all the stuff out of the other apartment. So we literally moved every single day this week. Haha.

So, Sunday, we had Stake Conference, and we went to English and Spanish because we have been covering both. Isa brought her girls, and she loved what she heard. The Spirit was so strong! She said she felt the Spirit so strong while President Torres was speaking, and she loved what he said. President got to meet them and talk to them afterward, and it was so special. He already felt such love for them. It was a really special stake conference.

So. Crazy 2 weeks. And to top it all off, transfers are tomorrow, and last night we found out... I'm training! So Tuesday I get my first mija de la misión (greenie, or daughter in the mission)! I don't know how things could get more eventful than 2 baptisms, 2 ETs, flooding, and my first mija. I love her already, and I am so excited to have some new blood in Brownsville! This is so exciting! I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father and a the amazing experiences He gives me. Missions = miracles!!!

All my love,

Hermana Clarke

Write to Rachelle at rachelle.clarke@myldsmail.net

Aly's Baptism

Ashlee's Baptism

Ashlee's and Aly's confirmations. I love that the older daughter is wearing Rachelle's striped dress that we bought her from Called to Surf in Provo. So cute!