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!
Wednesday, 19 December 2018
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
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Baptisms and Concrete in the Snow
Hey everybody.
This week was pretty interesting.
On P day we did some normal things that we do. With the exception that President Hill, the elders quorum president invited us over to his house for sloppy Joe's and to help him sort through literally tens of thousands of sports cards that he inherited from a member of our ward that passed away recently. It was mostly baseball cards but he had stacks of football, basketball, hockey, soccer, WWE, and women's basketball and some other weird things like rowing. It was good except that a few days earlier I was harassing a cat at a member's home and it attacked my finger leaving a deep and clean wound on the end of my index finger that made thumbing through cards a little painful.
That following Wednesday we helped brother Smith at his new house in Newark VT. Half of his house didn't have a foundation so he ripped out the walls and dug a trench where he built some concrete forms for an actual foundation. So we were poring a foundation for this home that was help up mostly by 2x6 boards that were drilled into the roof and resting on the ground. Only 1 other guy showed up and we had to wait about 45 minutes for the truck to show up. Hoping it wouldn't get stuck in the snow on the way up. It was also about 15 degrees and that was pretty terrible. The good news is that it got done. I don't think we were really all that helpful though. I don't know too much about construction, but I think I know now why people generally wait to do that kind of thing until summer.
Really the rest of the week was pretty normal. Thursday we went to Littleton, Friday we taught Austin over Skype and we had to go to Montpelier for a Zone Leadership meeting. That was kinda lame.
We went on exchange with the zone leaders. That was pretty fun. It snowed quite a bit on Tuesday.
Saturday was pretty good. We did service at a thrift store in the morning, drove to Littleton to get a return appointment. Found 3 new people in the space of an hour and drove all the way back to the chapel for Austin and Justin's baptism. It was pretty great.
I had the opportunity to baptize both Austin and Justin which was pretty cool. That was the first time that I had ever baptized anybody so even better.
I know that this work is true and that the Savior loves us. We can share that love as we serve people and have patience with them and ourselves I hope that you all know that I love you lots and hope you have a great week!
Elder Connor Starr
This week was pretty interesting.
On P day we did some normal things that we do. With the exception that President Hill, the elders quorum president invited us over to his house for sloppy Joe's and to help him sort through literally tens of thousands of sports cards that he inherited from a member of our ward that passed away recently. It was mostly baseball cards but he had stacks of football, basketball, hockey, soccer, WWE, and women's basketball and some other weird things like rowing. It was good except that a few days earlier I was harassing a cat at a member's home and it attacked my finger leaving a deep and clean wound on the end of my index finger that made thumbing through cards a little painful.
That following Wednesday we helped brother Smith at his new house in Newark VT. Half of his house didn't have a foundation so he ripped out the walls and dug a trench where he built some concrete forms for an actual foundation. So we were poring a foundation for this home that was help up mostly by 2x6 boards that were drilled into the roof and resting on the ground. Only 1 other guy showed up and we had to wait about 45 minutes for the truck to show up. Hoping it wouldn't get stuck in the snow on the way up. It was also about 15 degrees and that was pretty terrible. The good news is that it got done. I don't think we were really all that helpful though. I don't know too much about construction, but I think I know now why people generally wait to do that kind of thing until summer.
Really the rest of the week was pretty normal. Thursday we went to Littleton, Friday we taught Austin over Skype and we had to go to Montpelier for a Zone Leadership meeting. That was kinda lame.
We went on exchange with the zone leaders. That was pretty fun. It snowed quite a bit on Tuesday.
Saturday was pretty good. We did service at a thrift store in the morning, drove to Littleton to get a return appointment. Found 3 new people in the space of an hour and drove all the way back to the chapel for Austin and Justin's baptism. It was pretty great.
I had the opportunity to baptize both Austin and Justin which was pretty cool. That was the first time that I had ever baptized anybody so even better.
I know that this work is true and that the Savior loves us. We can share that love as we serve people and have patience with them and ourselves I hope that you all know that I love you lots and hope you have a great week!
Elder Connor Starr
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)