Hey Everyone.
We had a good week this week.
It wasn't too abnormal honestly. We had a weird P-day the day after Christmas and that kind of threw me off a bit
On Friday I taught district council about extending meaningful and powerful commitments.
Basically the gist is that if we used the spirit, ask direct questions, promise inspired blessings, and bear testimony. Then the Holy Ghost is invited and gives power to our invitations to repent.
When I was thinking about it, I was amazed that at the end of the day, everything must be done by the spirit. We were given Preach My Gospel, we are inspired to adapt to those we teach, and the spirit testified to them of the truth that it had previously testified to us. When Christ said "without me, he are nothing." He wasn't joking.
As we may know, this is the last weekly letter that I will be sending you as a full time missionary.
What an amazing 2 years it has been! I often feel a similar sentiment expressed by various prophets in the Book of Mormon. My language is insufficient to accurately or clearly describe the tender mercies that has been bestowed upon me and the people of New England. I truly know that this mission is a "hallowed" place. The Spirit of God has ripped throughout this land and I am utterly humbled that I was able to be a part of it.
To explain the subject line. I want to congratulate all the faithful readers of my weekly emails for the past 2 years! I think when all is said and done I will have sent about 105ish of these, and you made it through all of them! Hopefully you got at least a little out of it. If you skimmed most of them I don't blame you.
I don't really know what to say beyond what has been said. I know that this gospel is true. I know that God lives and loves us. I also know that God makes, and more importantly, always keeps, His promises.
I love you all. I truly do.
Your support has been amazing and I can't express that enough.
Until next time.
Elder Connor Starr
Wednesday 2 January 2019
Time O' Year
Hey everybody!
This week was pretty awesome. On Sunday for our special sacrament meeting we had about 5 nonmembers show up. It was really cool and we will be following up with them in the future. It was a good meeting and was filled with the spirit.
I guess I am a bit messed up because of the odd P-day. We had Zone Conference the week before. It was a special Christmas conference where everybody got their gifts and we sang Christmas songs etc.
I had to give my golden truth. For those not familiar. It is a talk that the departing missionaries give on their last zone conference about the most crucial thing that they learned on their mission.
It was a bizarre experience. I will probably talk more about it next week.
We had an awesome Christmas and it was very uplifting. Thank you all for being so supportive. I cannot imagine the effect that your prayers have had. I hope that you all have a great week! Love you!
Elder Connor Starr
This week was pretty awesome. On Sunday for our special sacrament meeting we had about 5 nonmembers show up. It was really cool and we will be following up with them in the future. It was a good meeting and was filled with the spirit.
I guess I am a bit messed up because of the odd P-day. We had Zone Conference the week before. It was a special Christmas conference where everybody got their gifts and we sang Christmas songs etc.
I had to give my golden truth. For those not familiar. It is a talk that the departing missionaries give on their last zone conference about the most crucial thing that they learned on their mission.
It was a bizarre experience. I will probably talk more about it next week.
We had an awesome Christmas and it was very uplifting. Thank you all for being so supportive. I cannot imagine the effect that your prayers have had. I hope that you all have a great week! Love you!
Elder Connor Starr
Wednesday 19 December 2018
Earth is round, so Bashal is life
Another week has come and gone here in northern Vermont.
We had some really excellent things happen!
On Wednesday night we had an awesome institute class at a member's home. We talked about the importance of the temple in family relationships and about the instances when Christ came and taught people at the temple. When he was a boy, when he healed the sick at Jerusalem, when he visited the Nephites, etc. The spirit was very strong and I regretted that we couldn't have gotten more people to show up!
To explain the subject line, on Friday we went on exchange with the Essex Elders. They are in a trio so I went with Elder Nielsen and Elder Brammel and Elder Johnson and Elder Augir went to Lyndon.
The Essex Elder's area covers alot of Burlington since the 2 wards combined in the last year. Burlington is the largest city in Vermont and is a melting pot of many refugees from lots of different places.
We tried to see this African family but they weren't home (because they have difficulty telling time in english) we asked their neighbors if they know of any other people that might be interested in the message and they pointed out all the people in the large apartment complex that they knew were christian. One of those people was Bashal. Bashal and his family are from Nepal, They moved here to the united states about 6 years ago. Bashal was converted to christianity after he went to a youth activity at a local church and felt they spirit and was baptised. He loved what we had to say about the bible and the book of mormon and he said that we could see him again on Sunday. When we asked him what he thought about the large portrait of Jesus hanging on the wall he said "Jesus is life." He has tons of faith and I am excited to hear what happens of him.
On Saturday we had our ward Christmas party. It was kind of hectic but it worked out great. The food was good and lots of less active members and nonmembers came. We were able to get return appointments with a few of them and I am very excited to see more of them! it was a great miracle that they even came and even more so that they would accept and invitation to learn more about the gospel.
Sunday was pretty cool too! we thought that we wouldn't have anyone we are teaching come as they all cancelled the morning of. As we were trying to figure out where we wanted to sit, we saw Jason and Hunter in the back of the chapel! We had been trying to see Jason for a while and his schedule isn't very fluid so it has been pretty difficult. It was amazing that he actually made it to church and so great that he could feel the spirit there.
I know that this gospel is true, and that our Heavenly Father is merciful beyond our understanding or recognition. This truly is God's work and we are his hands in doing so.
I love you and hope that you have a great week!
We had some really excellent things happen!
On Wednesday night we had an awesome institute class at a member's home. We talked about the importance of the temple in family relationships and about the instances when Christ came and taught people at the temple. When he was a boy, when he healed the sick at Jerusalem, when he visited the Nephites, etc. The spirit was very strong and I regretted that we couldn't have gotten more people to show up!
To explain the subject line, on Friday we went on exchange with the Essex Elders. They are in a trio so I went with Elder Nielsen and Elder Brammel and Elder Johnson and Elder Augir went to Lyndon.
The Essex Elder's area covers alot of Burlington since the 2 wards combined in the last year. Burlington is the largest city in Vermont and is a melting pot of many refugees from lots of different places.
We tried to see this African family but they weren't home (because they have difficulty telling time in english) we asked their neighbors if they know of any other people that might be interested in the message and they pointed out all the people in the large apartment complex that they knew were christian. One of those people was Bashal. Bashal and his family are from Nepal, They moved here to the united states about 6 years ago. Bashal was converted to christianity after he went to a youth activity at a local church and felt they spirit and was baptised. He loved what we had to say about the bible and the book of mormon and he said that we could see him again on Sunday. When we asked him what he thought about the large portrait of Jesus hanging on the wall he said "Jesus is life." He has tons of faith and I am excited to hear what happens of him.
On Saturday we had our ward Christmas party. It was kind of hectic but it worked out great. The food was good and lots of less active members and nonmembers came. We were able to get return appointments with a few of them and I am very excited to see more of them! it was a great miracle that they even came and even more so that they would accept and invitation to learn more about the gospel.
Sunday was pretty cool too! we thought that we wouldn't have anyone we are teaching come as they all cancelled the morning of. As we were trying to figure out where we wanted to sit, we saw Jason and Hunter in the back of the chapel! We had been trying to see Jason for a while and his schedule isn't very fluid so it has been pretty difficult. It was amazing that he actually made it to church and so great that he could feel the spirit there.
I know that this gospel is true, and that our Heavenly Father is merciful beyond our understanding or recognition. This truly is God's work and we are his hands in doing so.
I love you and hope that you have a great week!
Saturday 15 December 2018
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire... Etc.
Hey everybody.
This week was pretty awesome. Not too many remarkable things happened, but there were some awesome things.
Starting on Monday it we took some time out of our P-day to go and see Al. Al is doing pretty well. He just has trouble smoking and we found out he is in the process of getting a divorce with his wife. Pretty hard stuff. He has a great desire to be baptized. Probably more than I have seen in anybody that I have taught. We actually have to convince him to wait longer haha! He has a great testimony of the Book of Mormon and he wants to make great changes in his life.
Later that week, we drove to Littleton to follow up with some people. We did find the house that they told us about which in of itself was a miracle. "first red house on the left as you come in closest to the river by the old barn." sort of directions. They weren't home, really nobody we tried to see was home that day but we had a good time and we tried hard.
We taught Justin about enduring to the end and serving and learning in the church. We taught that to Austin later that week as well. They are both doing pretty good. I was pretty bummed when I found out that Austin was going on vacation until potentially the middle of next month. There is a high possibility that that is the last time I will see him in person for a while. He is a remarkable young man and he is going to go far in the gospel. I can feel it.
We did exchanges on Friday with the Newport Elders in the blistering cold. When we got up in the morning it was - 8 degrees and stayed below 15 basically all day. It was pretty rough but we had a good exchange. We even found a new person to teach named Corrine. Although she pronounced it Core-een. She was pretty cool and knew a lot about the Plan of Salvation.
Elder Johnson and Elder Swainston got to roast chestnuts on the streets of St Johnsbury, we helped a little too. They weren't bad honestly. It's a bit different though.
I guess it is significant to add that I had my last interview, or my exit interview on my birthday. It seemed somewhat fitting I suppose. I am sad that I will not have the opportunity to have any more interviews with President Blair. He has been a great strength and support to me for the past 2 years.
I know that this gospel is true. That it makes us happy and that Jesus Christ lives and guides this church. I love this Christmas season to help us consider how important his long awaited coming really was.
I love you and I hope that you have a great week!
Elder Connor Starr
This week was pretty awesome. Not too many remarkable things happened, but there were some awesome things.
Starting on Monday it we took some time out of our P-day to go and see Al. Al is doing pretty well. He just has trouble smoking and we found out he is in the process of getting a divorce with his wife. Pretty hard stuff. He has a great desire to be baptized. Probably more than I have seen in anybody that I have taught. We actually have to convince him to wait longer haha! He has a great testimony of the Book of Mormon and he wants to make great changes in his life.
Later that week, we drove to Littleton to follow up with some people. We did find the house that they told us about which in of itself was a miracle. "first red house on the left as you come in closest to the river by the old barn." sort of directions. They weren't home, really nobody we tried to see was home that day but we had a good time and we tried hard.
We taught Justin about enduring to the end and serving and learning in the church. We taught that to Austin later that week as well. They are both doing pretty good. I was pretty bummed when I found out that Austin was going on vacation until potentially the middle of next month. There is a high possibility that that is the last time I will see him in person for a while. He is a remarkable young man and he is going to go far in the gospel. I can feel it.
We did exchanges on Friday with the Newport Elders in the blistering cold. When we got up in the morning it was - 8 degrees and stayed below 15 basically all day. It was pretty rough but we had a good exchange. We even found a new person to teach named Corrine. Although she pronounced it Core-een. She was pretty cool and knew a lot about the Plan of Salvation.
Elder Johnson and Elder Swainston got to roast chestnuts on the streets of St Johnsbury, we helped a little too. They weren't bad honestly. It's a bit different though.
I guess it is significant to add that I had my last interview, or my exit interview on my birthday. It seemed somewhat fitting I suppose. I am sad that I will not have the opportunity to have any more interviews with President Blair. He has been a great strength and support to me for the past 2 years.
I know that this gospel is true. That it makes us happy and that Jesus Christ lives and guides this church. I love this Christmas season to help us consider how important his long awaited coming really was.
I love you and I hope that you have a great week!
Elder Connor Starr
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)