Semana Ochenta y Cuatro (TRANSFERS: Doubled in-DL-training on the Bayou! 🦐🐊 #wearenotintexasanymore )(Longview, TX)

Holy gator it happened! 

We got our transfer emails at 10:16 last night, and BAM! I'm off to the heart of Lousiana to teach the cajuns....... doubled in, district leader, and training to boot. This is going to be the most insane transfer of all time, and I can't wait. I've always wanted to go to Lousiana, and this is it. And what a chance it's going to be. Tomorrow morning we're head to Frisco early to go pick up my greenie, than a 200+ mile car ride out to Minden, Lousiana. (The extreme farthest point in the mission.....) 

We cover two small english branches, the Minden Lousiana Branch [which meets in an old baptist church] and the Magnolia Arkansas Branch. (Magnolia used to be it's own area, but then it was added to the Minden, so in reality we cover two super huge areas in the middle of nowhere.) Because we're getting doubled in, neither of us have any idea what the area is like, so it's going to be a wild cajun adventure to figure everything out. I could not be more excited for this transfer! 

In other news, Elder Gibbs and I had a great final week here in Longview. We went on exchanges with both the Marshall and Henderson elders and got a lot of good work done. We had a funeral for one of our Zone Leaders Tuesday after District Council, so that was lit. (Don't worry, that's not a sacrament cloth on the table.....) One night we were cooking shrimp in our apartment, and we tried to use pancake batter as breading but that went south very quickly...... you could hardly breath it was so smokey.(Hence the hebrew/towel head gear in the picture.....) We found a lit book while doing service at the library and we had to take a picture. It was about this guy who had eaten at every BBQ joint in Texas and wrote a book on it. Other than that, we taught some great lessons this week, spoke a lot of Spanish, and knocked a lot of doors. I'm really going to miss Elder Gibbs. Easily one of my favorite people I've met and worked along side on my mission. Love you Elder Gibbs. Thanks for an awesome transfer.

Stay tuned for next week: 

Adventures on da Bayou! 🐊

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX) 

Semana Ochenta y Tres (Running out of titles.... #texas)(Longview, TX)

Alright, alright. I know most of you are probably just here to look at the pictures (and that's alright!), but instead of writing out a huge weekly, we'll just cut to the chase. 

- But first just a quick update on the work - Things are going very well here in the Longview 4 branch! We've had some incredible families just fall out of the sky recently (one of them is already asking for days off work so they can come to church!), some of the other families we're teaching are finally getting back from their summer vacations, and we found nine more people to teach this week. #blessed

1. Some street sign we we saw this week. #restoration

2. Me trying to fight off my zone leaders who are sitting in the back seats. (Copies of the Book of Mormon are very effective for this.....)

3. Sonic run at the end of making visits with one of my favorite members. And yes, that is a tiger in the background.

4. Found some cool aviator glasses.

5. This dog bit my companion a couple transfers ago, so I had to get a picture of it.

6. Elder Gibbs (my companion) taming some dog that tried to bite us a few weeks ago.

7. #texas

Be blessed ya'll! 

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX) 

Semana Ochenta y Uno (Chalking it up!)(Longview, TX)

Hello my peoples! 

Another great week in the Texas Dallas Mission. With exception to the brutal Texas heat and humidity, we had a couple fun things happen this week. I think it was Saturday morning, we were walking into our local library when we noticed they were having this huge chalk drawing activity outside. Anyways, one of the people running the event called us over and told us to get busy.... challenge accepted. I had the idea to draw a huge Book of Mormon, so Elder Gibbs and I got work. It was sweet, we had tons of people come up and ask us what we were drawing. #gold About half way through, two other missionaries came outside and joined us which really helped speed up the process. I swear, we used like every piece of blue chalk they had!  My favorite exchange from that morning went as follows, [random lady walks up] "so are ya'll in the Book of Mormon play, or just really big enthusiasts?" "Haha, we're the real thing!" We were able to explain our purpose and now she's committed to read the Book of Mormon!

Besides that, we knocked a ton of doors, and almost got eaten by a pack of dogs while on exchanges. I was down in this trailer park in Henderson, when all of a sudden this group of dogs started to close in on us. Luckily right before it was too late a car flew down the road, breaking up the pack and giving us a chance to get away. #blessings

I just wanted to close with an interesting tid bit I learned this week during my personal studies. I was reading in Jacob 6, and I read this verse. 

4 And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God

I realized for most of my life I had just assumed I knew what the word "gainsaying" meant, so in the past I had always just glazed over it. Well upon realizing this, I decided to find out for myself what it actually meant. The definition read, "Verb: gainsay 1. Question the truth or validity of; take exception to".  When I read the definition it had a profound effect on me. How often are we ourselves guilty of this? How often do we question the validity of our leaders, even in the small things? How often do look to take exception to something if it doesn't match life style or pace? This small little discovery greatly strengthened my testimony of the importance of the Book of Mormon. Truly, it is the most correct book on earth, and we would do well to study it carefully and apply it's precepts in our lives. 

Keep life fresh ya'll!

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX)

Semana Ochenta (Of Fireworks and Marshmellow Towers!) (Longview, TX)

Man..... Eighty weeks in and another year older....... What the whack.

Anyways, how's it going ya'll? The work continues to roll here in the land of Texas. The 4th of July was a blast...... literally. Texas hold nothing back when it comes to the 4th. I swear there were more gun shots than fireworks. It was in fact..... legit. In other news...... I'm 20 now! I'll be honest, I'm happy to be 20 and all that, but I do miss the days at the begining of my mission when I would tell people that I was 18 and they'd be like, "What! You're only eighteen? I guess this is important and I should listen......" Now they're just like, "Okay, so you're twenty...... whatever. Get off my porch weirdo." No, I'm just kidding..... mostly. But anyways.

This was a great week. We found this SUPER solid family! La familia Najero. During our second lesson they were already asking about church and baptism. They're actively reading in the Book of Mormon (which is key in conversion) and can't seem to get enough of our message. They're awsome. Sadly they're about to go to Mexico for a couple weeks, but they'll be back. We also had flipping awesome zone conference this week. Sister Dalton, our mission president's wife, gave a great training on companion and district unity, and as part of it we did the o'l "build the tallest tower out of marshmellows and tooth picks challenge"......... I'm proud to announce that our strategic and educated design we called SMOOSH-IT-ALL-TOGETHER-INTO-AN-INDESTRUCTABLE-BLOB worked quite well and took us all the way to second place at 13 1/2"....... Well done gentlemen! #gentlemeninthewilderness #totallyslab #longviewdistrict #webeatgilmer

In other goodnews, the Spanish is finally starting to just flow. (About time!) We did a lot of finding this week, and had quite a bit of success. Maybe it's because people were in a good mood from the 4th of July. In addition to our finding efforts, we're spending a lot more time teaching these days...... which as much as I love finding, that's a good thing. We're on the brink of some baptisms that I really want to happen, so keep your fingers crossed and remember that prayers are always appreciated.

Before signing off, I just want to put in another plug for the greatest book in the world, the Book of Mormon. If for some reason I miss a day and don't get a chance to read from the Book of Mormon, I end up feeling spiritually starved the rest of the day. It is a vital component of our spiritual nutrition, and if we aren't regularly inmersing ourselves within it's pages we will spiritually starve our spirits. If that starvation continues long enough, our testimony will shrivel and may even die. Look. All I'm trying to say is don't be stupid. Read from the Book of Mormon daily. You won't regret it.

Well...... that's about all she wrote. Keep it fresh ya'll!  

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX)

Semana Setenta y Nueve (Behold the Sandwich.......)(Longview, TX)

Goodmorning! 

Alright, alright, I'm going to be straight up with ya'll this week........ This sandwich (attached at the bottom) was probably one of the highlights of my week. But don't be decieved! This was not just a sandwich. It was in fact the famous Cadillac Clucker from Stanley's BBQ in Tyler Texas (one of the top five BBQ pits in the world.....), and it was truly divine....... let me say that again...... divine. 

But no, for the most part it was a pretty normal week. I got my new companion, Elder Gibbs, on Tuesday and we've been pounding the pavement hard all week. Recently our teaching pool has gotten so large that we had to do a lot of sifting for the elect, which means dropping people and getting dropped. We had one of my favorite progressing investigators named Juan drop us this week, along with a few others, so that was sad, but in good news we had a couple other investigators come to church, so that was good. Missionary work is always full of ups and down. The important thing to keep in mind is the knowledge that the Lord will eventually end up on top, regardless, so all we've got to do is use our agency to choose to stay obedient and faithful to him at all times. If we can do that, then we can know of assurity that it'll work out in the end.

We spoke in church again Sunday, and that actually went quite well. We usually speak about every month here in our little back woods branch. But I think that about wraps it up. I really like my new companion, Elder Gibbs. He's from Centerville, Utah, works hard, and speaks great spanish. We're going to see us sum muracles this July! Yee-haw!

(sorry I'll repent this next week and take more pictures....) 

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX) 

Semana Setenta y Ocho (Welcome to the District! Also New Companion!)(Longview, TX)

What is good my peoples! 

We had another slab week here in Longview. One of our newer investigators named Juan has really gotten into the Book of Mormon lately, and after our Plan of Salvation lesson last Friday he asked some great questions. Rodrigo's still progressing as well..... Except for the fact that he got bit by some kind of spider this week and his leg totally swelled up and he had to go to the hospital. Luckily he's doing better. Besides that we're still knocking a lot and doing a lot of drop-bys. So in other words, the work of the Lord is going forward in Longview, TX. 

Big news this week! Last night we recieved our transfer emails, and I will be staying in Longview as the district leader but..... I'm going be with one of the coolest cats of the mission...... Elder Gibbs. I'm so hyped! Together we're going to knock all the doors of Longview and speak all the Spanish. It's going to be lit. I'll miss Elder Morrissey for sure. He was a good companion and a hard worker, but unfortunately he's needed elsewhere. He's off to Corsicana in the morning. Thanks for all the good times Elder Morrissey. #dontbeactedupon

On Tuesday we had our final district councel of the transfer, it was really good. I always feel a sense of relief and satisfaction finishing the final district councel of a transfer. Of course afterwards we had to snap some district pics..... Enjoy. 

That about wraps it up y'all. Keep reading, keep loving, keep praying, and remember that as helpful as your prayers are to this work, that there are no substitutes for a genuine member missionary..... There just isn't. So go out with the missionaries, talk about the Book of Mormon with random people, share and live the gospel. Imagine what would happen if this Church became a church of full time finders? Just think about that for a minute..... Can you imagine? 

But anyways..... I'm outta here. Things to do, people to see, hoops to shoot. 

Keep life fresh y'all! 🏻

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX) 

Semana Setenta y Siete (Wait....... is he trying to bash us? #happyfathersday)(Longview, TX)

Goodmorning my peoples!

Hope ya'll doing well, enjoying the start of a new week. The work goes forward here in Texas! Just a couple of highlight stories. 

Earlier in the week we had knocked into a man named Juan, and taught him about the restoration. Well we went back for another visit a few days later, he opened the door and said, (in spanish) "well, I don't understand all the big words, but I know it's teaching me about God." Afterwards we read a chapter, and at the end of the chapter he closed the book and said, "do you have a church here in Longview?" We responded that we did, and he said "okay. I work this Sunday, but I'm going to invite my wife and we're going to come next Sunday" Is it just me or is it lit when your investigators start inviting themselves to keep commitments! #miracle

Another fun story from this week. Tuesday we were once again knocking and we walked by this house we had knocked earlier that week. Well Elder Morrissey got a prompting to knock the house again, and not wanting to delay a prompting we got to it. A lady opened the door, and as soon as she saw it was the elders she started praising the lord and saying her prayers had been answered. Turns out she was a member who lives in south Dallas, but comes out to visit her none member husband only once or twice a month, and today just so happened to be that day. She invited us back that evening  to come visit and talk with her husband. Well we went back, sat down, and started to talk. It quickly turned to the topic of the Book of Mormon, and that's where things went whacky......... this guy considered himself an avid reader of the bible, and felt it his job to school these Mormon missionaries...... there was only one problem, he had no idea how to bash. Thus commenced the funniest bash of my mission. He kept pulling out all these random  passages that didn't even apply from the bible. Unfortunatley for him, whether he realized it or not, hardly any of his verses applied or fit in the context........ it was hilarious. This guy was making up passages on the spot. Pulling them out of thin air. And whenever he finished what he was saying he'd wink at us like he'd just pulled the wool over our heads...... Elder Morrissey and I were struggling to hold it together. I mean if someone wants to bash (which you should never do) I would like an actual challenge. Give me a scholar or a pastor or something, but this guy? It was just so funny, because he was so bad at it, yet so passionate about it........ maybe someday bro, maybe someday.    

Beyond that it was a good week, found a bunch of people, and knocked even more doors. #thelife

I just want to give a shout out to my incredible father. Thank you for everything, both for me personally and for our family. You're such a rock in my life. From catching rattlesnakes to supporting when I needed it, I love you dad. 

Sorry, no pictures this week....

Be blessed ya'll!

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX) 

Semana Setenta y Seis (Mudbugs and Chicken Feet...... Welcome to the South!)(Longview, TX)

Goodmorning my peoples! 

Just a quick one today. The work's continuing to progress in our little Spanish neck of the woods here in Longview, Texas. Lot's of knocking, but that okay because we found a bunch of new families we hope to start teaching soon. And on top of that, we had some great lessons with some of our other progressing investigators! #blessings

I've finally realized how much I love the South. I may be serving in Texas, but my current area's just outside of Louisiana and I love it out here. The people, the food, the culture, there's nothing like it. While on exchanges down in Henderson this week I had myself a mess of mudbugs (crawdads) for lunch and chicken feet (covered in cajun seasoning) for dinner....... Weirdest food of my life....... though, the dog we had in Idabel or the "Rocky Mountain Oysters" from last week may give them a run for their money. The food's not the only memorable thing about the South. Everything's old and run down here, which adds to the beauty oddly. I love the large southern plantation style mansions. Though much more prevalent are the thousands of Baptist and Pentacostal churches found on every street corner. This place is crazy, and will always have a special place in my heart. It's weird to think that tomorrow I hit my eighteen month mark. Gotta make these last six count!

Be blessed ya'll! #churchistrue

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX)  

P.S- Those are pig feet in the first picture that someone was cooking in their front yard! 

Semana Setenta y Cinco (Of Rocky Mountain Oysters, Split Pants, Big Snakes, Unhappy Pigs, and Exaltation from a Baptist #miracles)(Longview, TX)

What. The. Whack.

From castrating pigs to trying rocky mountain oysters, this week was simply flipping awesome. Easily a highlight week of the mission! It started off relatively normal, finding, knocking, lessons, spanish, etc. We had a great lesson with Rodrigo (one of our progressing investigators who came to church again yesterday!) where we taught him the Word of Wisdom. At first he was pretty hesitant to give up his coffee, cigarretts, and drinking, but after realizing how strong his testimony of the Book of Mormon had become he had a complete change of heart and was willing to give up everything on the spot. He even gave us his coffee and cigarretts.  I love seeing peoples lives change for the better.

But now onto the whack..... It all started in Marshall, Texas. I was on exchanges biking around on this cute little bike that I had borrowed from an elder (love you Elder Bryson....). Well there we were, and then there it was. This HUGE snake on the road, so being me of course it had to be caught. Which it was, though......... I may have completely split my pants in the process. But hey, sacrifices have to be made for these kinds of things!

The next day we went out to this farm in the boonies where for the next couple hours we helped castrate nine (very unfortunate) pigs....... Let's just say it was certainly an experience, and not one I'm soon to forget.  Because we're missionaries and we don't let anything go to waste (except for excessive spagetti left-overs from members.....) we of course had to fry up our spoils war, or as the locals call them, "Rocky Mountain Oysters". They weren't bad, but they seemed to have a weird texture. But then again, that may have just been because we knew where they came from! 🐖🥜

And to top it all off, I'm happy to announce that I have finally been exalted! Well, sort of........ I recieved my "Celestial Missionary Card" from my favorite baptist certifying that I am now considered a celestial missionary in the "missionary rankings" of the Texas Dallas Mission. #loveyoutim #youshouldstartreadingthebookofmormonagain

It was certainly a fun one, but a great week for the work as well. We found a bunch solid families we're excited to start teaching. Something I've been thinking about lately. Don't get caught on the sides lines of action. Don't just be the one that reads about miracles. Go out there and live those miracles. They're happening all around us, but if we just stand on the sidelines we're going to miss them. Get your nose out of the pity corner and go witness a miracle. Minister, serve, go out with the missionaries, go to the temple, what ever it takes! Just make it happen!

Love y'all so much! See you in a little over six!

Elder Clark Fox
(La Iglesia De Jesucristo De Los Santos De Los Últimos Días)
(Saddle Brook - Taylor  1400 H G Mosley #2206  Longview, TX)