Christmas party

So this week was pretty crazy, on Friday the Elders from the Birch Hills ward asked us if we could give them a ride to the mission home so one of them could speak with President Golden. I still don't know what the details of the situation are, but we took them back to their apartment and the missionary who spoke with President packed up and flew home the next morning. Since I was in a trio and we were already there, President Golden told me I'd was going to take his place as Elder Wasden's companion. So I changed areas partway through the transfer for a second time, so now I've been in four different districts, three areas, two zones, and had three companions and I haven't even officially finished my twelve weeks of training yet. It's pretty crazy, but I'm really excited for the new area. On the first day I was in this ward they had a super awesome Christmas party. The theme was Christmas in Zarahemla and it was so cool. They had these hand painted Mezo-american decorations all over, they had stuff for people to dress up like Nephites/Lamanites layed out on a table, the food was delicious, and the primary program they did was fantastic. I loved all of our ward Christmas parties back home, but this one was way above and beyond what I saw at any of them, we had a ton of fun. Then on Sunday we went to church, and there's some really awesome members who seem really willing to help with the missionary work in the ward. Elder Wasden is really great, he's only been out a transfer longer than I have, so it's definitely a different experience than being with two zone leaders who have been out for about a year and a half. I get a lot more speaking in when we're talking to people, so I think I'm going to start learning how to do stuff even faster, whether I want to or not. 😉 

I figured that with me going to California I wouldn't be having any weird foods, but yesterday and today I was proven wrong. I ate this Korean food at a member's house yesterday. I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically a stir fry except they had this weird fermented cabbage thing that you put on the top kind of like a sauce. It looked super weird, but it was actually surprisingly good. Then today we went to a Japanese buffet, and I ate all kinds of stuff I'd never tried before. I ate at least ten types of sushi, mollusk, octopus, fish eggs and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember the name of. Most of it was pretty good, I wasn't a big fan of the octopus though. 

I can't remember very much about the rest of the week, but here's a cool little spiritual thought from my studies the other day. Since I've been out I've talked to a fair amount of people who don't think they need to go to church or read in the scriptures or be baptized because they believe in Christ and they "have a personal relationship with God." So lately I've been thinking about what it really means to have a personal relationship with God. I was reading in Mosiah and in Chapter 5 King Benjamin is talking about being made free through Christ. In verse eight he says, "under this head he are made free, and there is no other head whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that he should take upon you the name of Christ." So we can only be saved through Jesus Christ, and to do so we need to have His name written on our hearts. We are promised that as we do this, we will be able to recognize the voice of the Lord. "Ye shall hear and know the voice by which he are called." But doing this is not a passive thing, in the next verse he writes, "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?" We can't come to know our Savior unless we truly follow Him by doing the things that he asks of us. So that's why our works are so important. There isn't a single thing we can do to earn our way into heaven, Christ was the only one who could earn us that privilege. But as we go to church, serve our neighbor, and follow all of His other commandments, we come to know our Savior better and we come closer to Him. I think that's what having a personal relationship with God means.

Since I just changed apartments I don't know our mailing address. So sorry about that. I probably should buy a jacket, but I haven't. Maybe I'll do that next week. I love you all!

-Elder Clark