Hello Friends and Family.
This week was pretty normal. Not a lot has been going on.
Elder O'Rourke and I are getting involved with some local festivals to get ourselves more involved with the community. We are setting up a family history booth to get more people interested and hopefully find more people to teach the Gospel. We are also preparing to do a family history booth at the wild Blueberry festival. The wild Blueberry festival is the largest event of the year. People come from all over to celebrate the blueberry harvest. (Washington county is the blueberry capital of the world.) Supposedly thousands of people will be walking the streets of Machias and we are bound and determined to teach at least one of them.
We have a really busy week coming up. We have to plan for our upcoming festival on Saturday. We also have zone conference on Tuesday and exchanges on Wednesday with service scattered all between.It is really amazing to see the excitement of the members increase as the branch begins to grow. As our understanding of the Gospel increases, so does our desire to share it with those we love. I know that this is true and that sharing the Gospel with those we love is not only a privilege, but a responsibility. The blessings of which we can't fully understand.
I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the week and that you know that I love you.
Until next week.
- Elder Starr
Tuesday, 18 July 2017
Friday, 14 July 2017
Elder Starr and Elder O'Rourke
Elders Starr and O'Rourke at our Machias Branch YSA Family Home Evening. Making S'mores.
Hey Everyone!
Hello Friends and family.
This week was super busy and full of a lot of stuff. On Sunday Elder Nicholls and I headed down to Bangor where I dropped him off with Elder Sika, and took 2 other Elders to Topsham where we stayed the night. In the morning we came to discover that somebody had left the keys in the ignition to our car, so it was dead. We tried to jump it for about 30 mi with no luck. It had gone the way of all the earth. So we stole Topsham's car and drove down to Manchester 55 minutes late to transfer meeting where all the departing missionaries gave their final goodbye talks. It turned out ok, and it wasn't a problem that we were late. I met Elder O'Rourke and we got ready to leave. Everything was fine However, our car was on scheduled replacement so we had to wait for Topsham Elders to bring it back to Manchester so we could do the swap. That took about 3 hours. Then Elder O'Rourke and I left with Elder Sobiski and Elder Lundell (from the OG MTC district 42a) back to Bangor and then onward to Machias. It was about 2 days of straight driving. Not super fun, but it worked out and we all made it there safe (despite the efforts of select drivers on the interstate.)
Tuesday was the 4th, it was pretty normal except Machias had a big parade at 6 pm and it started right across from our church building. That means that everyone uses our parking lot for 2 hours to watch the parade. We figured it was an awesome finding opportunity so we went out and tried to talk to as many people as possible. I can't really say that anybody was super interested but it was a good experience to figure out how to contact people in large crowds. After our somewhat defeated Tuesday we did the normal Wednesday stuff and went to district meeting, our new district leader, Elder Broekhuijsen, is actually from highland Utah, he went to Lone Peak high school and he also came out the same day as Elder O'Rourke and I. Let me tell you about Elder O'Rourke, Elder O'Rourke is a recent convert from the state of Florida! He is 23 and was baptized about 4 years ago. He was introduced to the church while he was playing games on Xbox live and somebody online brought up the Gospel and shared it with him. It's a pretty cool and remarkable story. One thing that I have been really grateful for is that I have had so many awesome companions with such strong Faith and perseverance. It has helped me when times get tough and I hope that I can be as powerful and strengthening to them as they have been to me. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can and does bless and elevate the lives of those who choose to use it.
I have seen the distinct effect that it has on people and the mighty change and blessings that it has brought to myself. I know that this work is the Lord's and that through Him, all things are made possible.
I hope that you all have an awesome summer and
do something that will have great positive effect on somebody else.
Love every one of you.
Till next week
- Elder Starr
This week was super busy and full of a lot of stuff. On Sunday Elder Nicholls and I headed down to Bangor where I dropped him off with Elder Sika, and took 2 other Elders to Topsham where we stayed the night. In the morning we came to discover that somebody had left the keys in the ignition to our car, so it was dead. We tried to jump it for about 30 mi with no luck. It had gone the way of all the earth. So we stole Topsham's car and drove down to Manchester 55 minutes late to transfer meeting where all the departing missionaries gave their final goodbye talks. It turned out ok, and it wasn't a problem that we were late. I met Elder O'Rourke and we got ready to leave. Everything was fine However, our car was on scheduled replacement so we had to wait for Topsham Elders to bring it back to Manchester so we could do the swap. That took about 3 hours. Then Elder O'Rourke and I left with Elder Sobiski and Elder Lundell (from the OG MTC district 42a) back to Bangor and then onward to Machias. It was about 2 days of straight driving. Not super fun, but it worked out and we all made it there safe (despite the efforts of select drivers on the interstate.)
Tuesday was the 4th, it was pretty normal except Machias had a big parade at 6 pm and it started right across from our church building. That means that everyone uses our parking lot for 2 hours to watch the parade. We figured it was an awesome finding opportunity so we went out and tried to talk to as many people as possible. I can't really say that anybody was super interested but it was a good experience to figure out how to contact people in large crowds. After our somewhat defeated Tuesday we did the normal Wednesday stuff and went to district meeting, our new district leader, Elder Broekhuijsen, is actually from highland Utah, he went to Lone Peak high school and he also came out the same day as Elder O'Rourke and I. Let me tell you about Elder O'Rourke, Elder O'Rourke is a recent convert from the state of Florida! He is 23 and was baptized about 4 years ago. He was introduced to the church while he was playing games on Xbox live and somebody online brought up the Gospel and shared it with him. It's a pretty cool and remarkable story. One thing that I have been really grateful for is that I have had so many awesome companions with such strong Faith and perseverance. It has helped me when times get tough and I hope that I can be as powerful and strengthening to them as they have been to me. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can and does bless and elevate the lives of those who choose to use it.
I have seen the distinct effect that it has on people and the mighty change and blessings that it has brought to myself. I know that this work is the Lord's and that through Him, all things are made possible.
I hope that you all have an awesome summer and
do something that will have great positive effect on somebody else.
Love every one of you.
Till next week
- Elder Starr
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Monday, 3 July 2017
District Picture
Our District
Elder and Sister LeCheminant
Elder Butler, Edler Helton, Elder Starr, Elder Nicholls, Elder Butikofer, Elder Broekhuijsen.
Odd Day
Hello everyone, the mission surprised us this week by having our P Day moved to Saturday, I guess they wanted to move transfers to Monday so that as much work can be done on the 4th as possible. Makes sense to me with all those families out and about. I guess I am also sorry that I didn't warn the people at home that transfer calls were coming in today too.
The news is that I will be staying here in Machias and will be receiving Elder O`Rourke who is coming from Rockland Maine. Elder O`Rourke started his mission with me so it should be a good time and I really look forward to working with him.
Elder Nicholls is moving down to the Bangor area and follow up training Elder Sika. I am sad to see Elder Nicholls go, but we had a good time and we were able to learn a lot from each other. We were able to see a lot of cool miracles and I am grateful for him and his faith.
This last week was filled with a lot of goodbyes. Our district leader, Elder Butler goes home at the end of next week, and by what I have heard so far it sounds like other missionaries will be moving on to other things. I had really come to love all the wonderful missionaries that I was serving with in the Ellsworth district. It's hard to see people go but that's just they way that it is.
On a less sad note, one of our investigators that we have been working with for a while told us that he thinks the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet called of God I this last dispensation, not his exact words but it's close.
It's truly amazing to see what can happen when people are willing to share the Gospel with those that they love. Cliff, this particular investigator, is a dear friend to one of the branches recent converts, Shawn. Cliff agreed to have the lessons because his friend was willing to share what he knew to be true and how it has blessed his life in the hard times. Now he has that same opportunity.
A lot of really exciting things are happening and I know that no sacrifice, no matter how small, goes unnoticed. As I continue to serve and indulge myself into the Lords great work, I realize how little time I actually have here in the mission field. It may seem like a long time some days, but the fact of the matter is that it's only a small percentage of the time that we have been given here in this life. It is our job to make sure that that time is spent in the service of those that we love. I can say that I have progressed a great distance in my capacity to love those that I diligently serve and serve with. As we work hard to do the Lord's work and uplift the rest of his children, we can begin to understand the ultimate love that he has for all of us.
I apologize again for the odd timing, It will be normal again next week. I hope you all know that I love you, have a great week!
Until then.
-Elder Starr
The news is that I will be staying here in Machias and will be receiving Elder O`Rourke who is coming from Rockland Maine. Elder O`Rourke started his mission with me so it should be a good time and I really look forward to working with him.
Elder Nicholls is moving down to the Bangor area and follow up training Elder Sika. I am sad to see Elder Nicholls go, but we had a good time and we were able to learn a lot from each other. We were able to see a lot of cool miracles and I am grateful for him and his faith.
This last week was filled with a lot of goodbyes. Our district leader, Elder Butler goes home at the end of next week, and by what I have heard so far it sounds like other missionaries will be moving on to other things. I had really come to love all the wonderful missionaries that I was serving with in the Ellsworth district. It's hard to see people go but that's just they way that it is.
On a less sad note, one of our investigators that we have been working with for a while told us that he thinks the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet called of God I this last dispensation, not his exact words but it's close.
It's truly amazing to see what can happen when people are willing to share the Gospel with those that they love. Cliff, this particular investigator, is a dear friend to one of the branches recent converts, Shawn. Cliff agreed to have the lessons because his friend was willing to share what he knew to be true and how it has blessed his life in the hard times. Now he has that same opportunity.
A lot of really exciting things are happening and I know that no sacrifice, no matter how small, goes unnoticed. As I continue to serve and indulge myself into the Lords great work, I realize how little time I actually have here in the mission field. It may seem like a long time some days, but the fact of the matter is that it's only a small percentage of the time that we have been given here in this life. It is our job to make sure that that time is spent in the service of those that we love. I can say that I have progressed a great distance in my capacity to love those that I diligently serve and serve with. As we work hard to do the Lord's work and uplift the rest of his children, we can begin to understand the ultimate love that he has for all of us.
I apologize again for the odd timing, It will be normal again next week. I hope you all know that I love you, have a great week!
Until then.
-Elder Starr
Moving in Machias
From Sister Kim Smith:
We had a new family move into our branch (we're growing!) in Machias, Maine on Saturday. Elder Nichols and Elder Starr, and Elder and Sister LeCheminant were there to help!
We had a new family move into our branch (we're growing!) in Machias, Maine on Saturday. Elder Nichols and Elder Starr, and Elder and Sister LeCheminant were there to help!
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