Hello Everybody!

This week was really good. 

The beginning of the week started slow with various doctors and dentist's appointments with elder Smith. Nothing too serious just a chipped filling and some other stuff.  We didn't get a chance to see hardly any of our investigators this week which was rough but it will be fine and it just gives us a chance to find more people to teach!

On Friday for district meeting we talked a lot about how finding people requires faith. Faith that God's children are being prepared for the blessings and the message of the gospel. Faith that if we do scary things like talking to strangers that the lord will bless us with people to teach, and faith that working with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength will bring others into the fold of God.

With that in mind this week we made it a point to not only talk to everybody that was in our path, but also to invite them to learn and hear the gospel. The difference in our labor was impressive. When we act in faith we have the opportunity to see our Heavenly Father's hand in our lives. We can see the evidence of the things that are not seen. This reflection increases our faith and our power to work in the hands of the lord.

Transfer calls come in on Saturday.  It is really remarkable to see how our perspectives change after the trials that we face and the environments that we occupy when we look in retrospect. I love this area and I really hope that I get to stay. There are so many wonderful people here and I know that there are many more that are prepared by the Lord to see us.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week this week and that you know 

that I love you lots.

 

-Elder Connor Starr

Zone Conference Exeter, New Hampshire

The Spirit of God like a Casserole is Burning

Hello Everyone.

This week was fairly normal. Nothing extremely exciting to report.

Starting on Monday we did normal Monday stuff that included shopping and emailing and cleaning.
They disperse a lot of sand here instead of salt so your boots track in about 20 billion tons of mud everytime that you walk into the apartment. We have to vacuum quite frequently to avoid small dunes of sand from forming on the floor.  It was really warm here for about 2 days and melted a lot of the snow, which is nice. However it got cold again and now we have returned to single digits. Not super fun.

The night of Tuesday we got inside after the day was done and we were doing our thing when the fire alarms went off. We  quickly threw on our shoes and grabbed our bags as everybody evacuated the building. About 3 firetrucks showed up and we stood outside for about an hour as they extinguished the small fire that set off the alarm. Much to our dismay we had to stay up about 80 minutes later than normal.

This Thursday was zone conference and we discussed goal-setting and planning. It was really awesome and we saw the goals that the mission had set for the year 2018. Last year the mission set a goal for 200 baptisms and we reached 195! considering that in October we had about 135 it was super impressive and we were able to baptise about 28 people a month!  The goal for 2018 is to have 300 baptisms by the end of the year and we are starting strong in our district with 3 this month. I know that as we work hard and diligently that the Lord blesses us with miracles according to our faith. Within this great work we can plainly see fulfilment of the prophecy that Israel will be gathered again and we are preparing those covenant people for the eternal blessings of the temple in less than 9 years!

I hope that you all have a fantastic week.

Love you!

Baby, It's Really Cold Outside

Hello everybody!

This last week was a pretty good one!
On Monday we went and did P-Day stuff, then we went over to the Sansoucies for
a new year dinner with them and their parent's and the Melby's. It was really cool and we taught
them about the importance of having Christ in the center of our faith.  After we did some really awesome contacting in Pembroke and met some really cool people. Including but not limited to: Matt, the guy that delivers Chinese food, Mark, the guy who plays in a garage band... and an Italian guy who is starting his own pizza and sub shop. They were all pretty nice.

The following Day Elder Smith went to the dentist to see about getting his filling fixed, not fun. and the day after that we drove all the way to Lebanon (NH) and that took the better part of the day with some good finding involved. Thursday the weather was so bad that the mission told us that we could not go outside. Really for any reason. we got about 12 inches of snow and single digit temperatures so we spent the better part of the day cleaning and planning. Brother Frantz, the ward mission leader, came by our apartment and gave us cookies and milk and hot cocoa. He is the ultimate man.
The day following we were still grounded and the temperatures got down to about -20 at night. Not super fun.

 On Saturday we had a normal district meeting. I talked a lot about not comparing ourselves to other missionaries. That our success is based solely on our dedication to invite others to come unto Christ.
There was a big object lesson involved too but I won't explain it for the sake of time.
We are all here living our own lives within our own capacities. The Book of Mormon says that it is not requisite that man should run faster than he [she] has strength. Our ability to do our best to live the gospel is not based on the efforts or results of anybody else.

I hope that you all have a wonderful new-year and that with the new year comes new accomplishments. 

I am so blessed to be here and I love you all so much and appreciate your constant support.


until next time!
-Elder Connor Starr

January Nor'Easter

Dear Parents of New Hampshire Manchester Mission,

You may have heard or seen on the news that we are experiencing a winter storm here and want you to be aware of the precautions we have put in place for today through Monday, the 8th of January.

All the missionaries are well and accounted for. They are all grounded to their apartments as of now. They were told yesterday to have full tanks of gas, to locate their emergency kits, have working flashlights and $25 in cash. They have been told to check in with President & Sister Blair, the Assistants or the Sister Leader Training Leaders every two hours. If they lose power, we will move them as soon as is possible.

Sister Smith
New Hampshire Manchester Mission

For Parents that have concerns, you are welcome to call Sister Blair at: 603-661-1432

And a Happy New Year!

Hello Friends and family

We had an awesome week this past week.  I don't think that the temperature has been above single digits in almost 10 days.  The cool thing is (haha) that we have a rule that we can only be outside for 20 minutes at a time before we come back in so it gives us a great opportunity to exercise our faith and set really awesome goals for those short periods of time when we can talk to people and invite them to learn about the restored gospel.

On Tuesday we had our zone P-day activity and afterwards we hit the streets of Manchester delivering gift packages to homeless people and giving out free hot-chocolate to people that were walking around on the street.  It was really fun but also really really cold. It was awesome to see how even small acts of service can brighten somebody else's day and help them to feel the same love that our Father in Heaven has for all of us.

I officially have less days left on my mission than days that I have been on my mission.
It is really bewildering to think about how quickly that time passes. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be serving a mission in this place at this time with all of these wonderful people that I have met and still have yet to meet. When Elder Anderson visited the MTC while I was there he talked about how, in this life, we will probably never know or see how much good that we bring to the lives of others. Do you all Remember Angel from Randolph NH? The one that we tried to get baptised so hard for so long? well I got word that he moved to Pennsylvania where he was baptised and confirmed a member of the church and he now has a temple date with his new fiance and eternal companion.

I know that this gospel is true and that it blesses the lives of all those who follow the words of the Savior and keep his commandments. That it brings true and everlasting joy!  I love you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week and a great start to the new year!

Until Next week

-Elder Connor Starr