Being a missionary...is...like nothing else in life. That's the best way to describe it. The Lord really supports His servants and helps them out when they're feeling down. The longer I've been out and the more my desire is to serve the Lord. I suppose more than anything else, the best way to describe those thoughts/feelings is to say that I feel like the Lord is slowly helping me turn toward serving him and "forgetting" the things of home. As I have desires to fully serve the Lord and am working on lining up my actions with those desires then the Lord will help me place those things of home in a place that won't distract me as much while serving Him. I really do want to serve the Lord with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I really do want to forget myself in His service...By serving the Lord will full intent of heart and giving myself fully in His service, it will strengthen me and help me to become the man the Lord would have me be. And that after this short time of service, I will be most ready and excited to investigate future possibilities!
I suppose one thing I'm learning is that we many times just don't see that the timing the Lord has planned is actually the best timing. He knows the process of events that need to occur in order for us to be the MOST happy that we can be in this life. And as we stay close to Him and follow the promptings of the Spirit to guide our lives, the best timings will occur and the most happiness will be able to be experienced by us. It's so cool! And the coolest thing is that even when we decide to not follow His counsel, He has a multitude of opportunities and chances in our paths to correct ourselves and still have as much happiness as possible from that time forward! It's SO COOL! And even when His timing brings us pain or sorrow or separation or what ever, all of those things are instruments or tools in helping us to have the most happiness and joy in this life and the next. We have to learn and many times learning is more difficult than we'd like. But once we do learn, we're able to apply that knowledge in our futures in order to have more happiness than we'd be able to have if we didn't have that knowledge. It's Sweet!
Alright, so, this email is starting to feel like quite the journal entry more than anything else. Hopefully everything I've written (or even some of it) has made sense or helped someone in the family in some way. I'll move on a little though.
The work. Well...it's about the same. Not much has changed. We're still working with the same people we have been, and one of our investigators has been forced a little to quit smoking or drinking coffee because she hasn't had the money to buy the stuff. It's been a bit difficult for her, but she's getting through it! Our biggest challenge, I think, is that of getting our investigators to keep their appointments. Now, the hard thing about that is most of the time the reasons they cancel are good reasons. Most of them are having relatively large trials in their lives that many times have interfered with our appointment times. But we've still be able to reschedule or stop by another time and catch them home. So all is good. We're going to be doing more tracting, as well as going after some potential investigators we found in the Area Book that no one had ever followed up on (or at least neglected to record). So, fun times! The ward is starting to get the idea of Elder Ballard's plan for the ward missions and that's exciting. Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll start seeing some results from that! Overall, the work is progressing. Probably not as fast as Elder Hunter and I would like, but it IS progressing. Yay!
Um...What else? Oh! Jill's banquet dress looked really cool! She looked beautiful (even if the picture wasn't good) and I thought she looked better than the other girls (she looked like a princess, the other girls looked like they just threw on a bath towel or something else that wasn't all that elegant). I'm so proud of that girl! She's such a smart and amazing woman. I'm not going to even probably recognize her when I get home.
Y'all should check out all the vidoes on www.mormon.org they're pretty cool. And the ones on LDS.org as well. Go watch the Mother's Day video they put together.
I love y'all. I really hope all is well. I hope dad gets to feeling better and I hope he tries to be more careful. Tell him I love him and that I really look up to him. I'm proud I'm his son and that he taught me how to work on things. I wouldn't let him teach me as much as he knows, but I'm glad he made the effort and really did teach me to be self-sufficent when it comes to working on things on cars or around the house. I love him! I love the example of being a righteous Priesthood-bearing father he set for me. And I'm so happy and grateful for my family. I'm so grateful for the way in which I was brought up and the things that were instilled in me at an early age. I love you guys! I love y'all!
Your Son and Brother,
-Elder Michael Starks
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 7, 2009
Hailing from Salem, Oregon...it's Elder Starks!
I thought we were in Salem, OR....what the heck is that sign for Dallas doing here??? lol
First off, I was transferred. We found out Monday night that I'd be leaving and that I'd still be on bike. Woohoo! I was most definitely sad to leave, and a little nervous about my future companion.
My new area. I'm now serving in the Fairgrounds ward in Salem. That's right. The bottom of the mission. Salem is the farthest south the mission goes and that's where I'm at. The area seems pretty nice and the ward seems really nice as well. We had a coordination meeting last night and the ward mission leader is quite enthused about missionary work and trying to get the ward involved. The RS Pres and EQ Pres was there and they seem pretty sweet as well. Actually, the RS Pres reminded me of you Mom (funny how it seems all the RS Pres's I've met so far remind me of you...wonder why that is...). Anyway, the bishop was also there and he seems like a pretty awesome guy as well. This area seems like it's going to be a really good area! Oh! and my new companion. His name is Elder Hunter and he's from Spanish Fork, Utah. Really awesome guy, so far as I can tell. He seems like a really hard worker and I think we're going to have a good time together. If you couldn't tell by now, he's the other Elder in the picture that I attached. The other picture is one that I snapped as we were driving down to Salem and I thought you guys would like, I know I thought it was cool!
As for the work back in Tigard before I left. Well, John and his wife seem really close to baptism. As for the work in my new area, it seems to be going really well! I actually met what seems to be our most promising investigator last night. She's an older lady. She is quite fun and loves to have the missionaries over. Elder Hunter and I then went to the coordination meeting I told you about earlier and then retired for the evening. I got mostly unpacked (all my clothes put away, etc.) and we got to know each other more. I really like Elder Hunter. So yeah. Good times so far. The work seems busy and progressing here. I hope it continues to be so!
Alright, so other misc. things. Ties. I like ties. Especially really sweet looking ties. I have, now, about 40 or 45 ties. But more are always good, especially so I can hopefully have more "sweet" ties. The best ties are 100% Polyester ties. And the best places to find the best ties are Thrift stores. The fatter (wide, like 5 to 7 inches wide at the widest part) the better. The thicker the better (meaning, more stuffing). The stiffer (meaning the tie isn't floppy) the better. Just an FYI. I'll send some example pictures at some point. Really good brands at thift stores: Wembly, Britannia, and a few others.
Alright. That's all I can remember at the moment. Oh! Mother's day calling. We get out of church at 4:00PM PST and we'll probably call sometime between 4:00PM and 9:00PM... I wish I could be more specific, but I'm not sure at this point in time. We're hopefully going to find a member's home to call from. So hopefully we'll touch base. I love y'all. You better know that. I love y'all so much! And thank you for sharing your super awesome spiritual experiences with me. It helps so much!
I love y'all!
-Elder Michael Starks
I thought we were in Salem, OR....what the heck is that sign for Dallas doing here??? lol
First off, I was transferred. We found out Monday night that I'd be leaving and that I'd still be on bike. Woohoo! I was most definitely sad to leave, and a little nervous about my future companion.
My new area. I'm now serving in the Fairgrounds ward in Salem. That's right. The bottom of the mission. Salem is the farthest south the mission goes and that's where I'm at. The area seems pretty nice and the ward seems really nice as well. We had a coordination meeting last night and the ward mission leader is quite enthused about missionary work and trying to get the ward involved. The RS Pres and EQ Pres was there and they seem pretty sweet as well. Actually, the RS Pres reminded me of you Mom (funny how it seems all the RS Pres's I've met so far remind me of you...wonder why that is...). Anyway, the bishop was also there and he seems like a pretty awesome guy as well. This area seems like it's going to be a really good area! Oh! and my new companion. His name is Elder Hunter and he's from Spanish Fork, Utah. Really awesome guy, so far as I can tell. He seems like a really hard worker and I think we're going to have a good time together. If you couldn't tell by now, he's the other Elder in the picture that I attached. The other picture is one that I snapped as we were driving down to Salem and I thought you guys would like, I know I thought it was cool!
As for the work back in Tigard before I left. Well, John and his wife seem really close to baptism. As for the work in my new area, it seems to be going really well! I actually met what seems to be our most promising investigator last night. She's an older lady. She is quite fun and loves to have the missionaries over. Elder Hunter and I then went to the coordination meeting I told you about earlier and then retired for the evening. I got mostly unpacked (all my clothes put away, etc.) and we got to know each other more. I really like Elder Hunter. So yeah. Good times so far. The work seems busy and progressing here. I hope it continues to be so!
Alright, so other misc. things. Ties. I like ties. Especially really sweet looking ties. I have, now, about 40 or 45 ties. But more are always good, especially so I can hopefully have more "sweet" ties. The best ties are 100% Polyester ties. And the best places to find the best ties are Thrift stores. The fatter (wide, like 5 to 7 inches wide at the widest part) the better. The thicker the better (meaning, more stuffing). The stiffer (meaning the tie isn't floppy) the better. Just an FYI. I'll send some example pictures at some point. Really good brands at thift stores: Wembly, Britannia, and a few others.
Alright. That's all I can remember at the moment. Oh! Mother's day calling. We get out of church at 4:00PM PST and we'll probably call sometime between 4:00PM and 9:00PM... I wish I could be more specific, but I'm not sure at this point in time. We're hopefully going to find a member's home to call from. So hopefully we'll touch base. I love y'all. You better know that. I love y'all so much! And thank you for sharing your super awesome spiritual experiences with me. It helps so much!
I love y'all!
-Elder Michael Starks
Saturday, April 25, 2009
April 23, 2009
Hey Family!
I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for the pictures of everything!
Do we see the sun here? Yes, we do see the sun. For just about 5 days of so we've had a good deal of sunshine (finally), but even then it hasn't been as gloomy and dreary as I'd come to expect from what everyone has said about the area. Now, the Elders from Arizona have said that there isn't enough sunshine here, but I've been quite happy with the amount we've had. Also, I'm so glad it hasn't been as hot as Texas usually is! That has been really nice! And I must say, it's quite beautiful here, very green and colorful when everything starts blooming. Anyway, what's been new with me? Not much. Same old same old. Still trying to be a better missionary, still trying to wake up on time, and even if I don't wake up on time at least get up when I wake up instead of sleeping in even longer. So that's fun.
Alright, so, how goes the work you're asking yourself by now. It's going alright. This week has been a little slow. Everyone we've had an appointment with so far has canceled or postponed on us so far. The only other appointment we have scheduled is with a girl and that is for Sunday evening. Keep praying for everyone though!
Things seems to be going alright. We're working more on tracting and trying to get the members more involved so we can hopefully get refferals from them. It's slow going, but we're trying new tactics and starting to see a little success. We don't have any solid new investigators yet, but we've got quite a few potentials!
Oh! I have a really cool story about some street contacting we did a few days ago, but I've run out of time and have got to go. I'll try to write a letter today and include that story in there. Needless to say, it was awesome and I loved it! It was so cool to have someone actually respond positively and actually accept a Book of Mormon on the spot!
I love you all and I hope everyone is doing well. It's good to hear that Kaycee is happy and is doing well!
Transfers are May 5th (or whichever Wednesday is close to that).
I love y'all!
-Elder Michael Starks
I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for the pictures of everything!
Do we see the sun here? Yes, we do see the sun. For just about 5 days of so we've had a good deal of sunshine (finally), but even then it hasn't been as gloomy and dreary as I'd come to expect from what everyone has said about the area. Now, the Elders from Arizona have said that there isn't enough sunshine here, but I've been quite happy with the amount we've had. Also, I'm so glad it hasn't been as hot as Texas usually is! That has been really nice! And I must say, it's quite beautiful here, very green and colorful when everything starts blooming. Anyway, what's been new with me? Not much. Same old same old. Still trying to be a better missionary, still trying to wake up on time, and even if I don't wake up on time at least get up when I wake up instead of sleeping in even longer. So that's fun.
Alright, so, how goes the work you're asking yourself by now. It's going alright. This week has been a little slow. Everyone we've had an appointment with so far has canceled or postponed on us so far. The only other appointment we have scheduled is with a girl and that is for Sunday evening. Keep praying for everyone though!
Things seems to be going alright. We're working more on tracting and trying to get the members more involved so we can hopefully get refferals from them. It's slow going, but we're trying new tactics and starting to see a little success. We don't have any solid new investigators yet, but we've got quite a few potentials!
Oh! I have a really cool story about some street contacting we did a few days ago, but I've run out of time and have got to go. I'll try to write a letter today and include that story in there. Needless to say, it was awesome and I loved it! It was so cool to have someone actually respond positively and actually accept a Book of Mormon on the spot!
I love you all and I hope everyone is doing well. It's good to hear that Kaycee is happy and is doing well!
Transfers are May 5th (or whichever Wednesday is close to that).
I love y'all!
-Elder Michael Starks
Thursday, April 23, 2009
April 16, 2009
Comment from Darlene: This is Michael's response to a "howler" I sent him complaining about troubles I was having with the Mac in the absence of my "IT guy".....we've had a 'running feud" over the Mac vs. a PC so I knew he would laugh about it. (If you don't know what a "howler" is, read Harry Potter and you'll get an idea.)
First wow. I knew things would happen that you, of course(!), wouldn't go to the Apple Store for or call Apple Support about. For example, you shouldn't need to have downloaded Adobe Reader because Mac OSX natively reads PDF files via Preview, but also because I have (at least, I think I still had when I left...) Adobe CS3 Design Premium installed. Anyway, I'm glad you sorted it all out and I'll be happy to clear up the mess when I get home and make sure the iMac is in good running order. That'll be a fun job to get caught up on the first week or two I'm home. Anyway, that's far in the future. But, in the interim, GO TO THE APPLE STORE WHEN YOU HAVE QUESTIONS! Also, if something funky really does start happening with the computer, go online (to www.apple.com/retail/willowbend I think...if that doesn't work, just go to www.apple.com/retail and then pick out the willow bend store) and schedule an appointment at the Genius Bar and take the comp down there to get any "serious" problems fixed. The Apple Care should still be good on the comp until the end of November of this year as far as I remember.
Okay, so what's new in the work, you ask? Well, Easter was...interesting. In the first ward, the program was awesome and very cool, but we had to leave for part of it to go to the other ward's Missionary Coordination meeting. However, we didn't know we weren't holding it that Sunday, so we just talked with the rep. from the Relief Society who also didn't know it wasn't being held. Anyway, we got back in for the closing part of the program, but we missed two of the talks that, from the snippets I heard, seemed like they would have been really cool to hear. But we didn't have any investigators in that ward, so oh well. Anyway, moving on to the next ward. Wow. We had three investigators there, which was awesome!
Anyway, to make a long story at least a little shorter, we met with the couple we are teaching and the cool thing of the story was that last night she told us that she prayed like we had told her to doabout a difficult situation she had when she went to church and felt no one spoke to her and she got an answer! She said the Lord basically told her to not worry about what other people thought of her, that the purpose she goes to church is to worship Him, not others, and that she should go out of her way to introduce herself to people if people don't introduce themselves to her. It was cool to hear that, but it was also apparent that she had been upset by events. So...trials and tests. We testified to them that if they'll keep coming (which they said they plan to) they'll have better experiences and they'll feel the Spirit and be edified. It was so cool to hear Joelene speak last night! She spoke for probably close to half of the time! It was awesome! Aside from that, things are progressing along with others. I would ask that you all just pray for them and our other investigators.
Anyway, enough of that. We're doing our best and trying to find new people all of the time! We're hopefully going to get a referral from a member who's shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with her friend. Yay!
Anyway, things are going relatively well. I still get stressed sometimes and worry way too much, but I'm doing what I can. I hope all of you are doing well and that life is sweet! I hope to hear from y'all soon!
Take care and I LOVED the tape! I love y'all!
-Elder Michael Starks
P.S. When am I going to get another tape?! Jill and Kaycee both said that they were going to be making another one soon...and that was back in Feb! Also, I LOVE the pictures! Sweet Bluebonnets! Press one and send it to me! I love y'all! I'm glad to hear y'all are all doing well!
First wow. I knew things would happen that you, of course(!), wouldn't go to the Apple Store for or call Apple Support about. For example, you shouldn't need to have downloaded Adobe Reader because Mac OSX natively reads PDF files via Preview, but also because I have (at least, I think I still had when I left...) Adobe CS3 Design Premium installed. Anyway, I'm glad you sorted it all out and I'll be happy to clear up the mess when I get home and make sure the iMac is in good running order. That'll be a fun job to get caught up on the first week or two I'm home. Anyway, that's far in the future. But, in the interim, GO TO THE APPLE STORE WHEN YOU HAVE QUESTIONS! Also, if something funky really does start happening with the computer, go online (to www.apple.com/retail/willowbend I think...if that doesn't work, just go to www.apple.com/retail and then pick out the willow bend store) and schedule an appointment at the Genius Bar and take the comp down there to get any "serious" problems fixed. The Apple Care should still be good on the comp until the end of November of this year as far as I remember.
Okay, so what's new in the work, you ask? Well, Easter was...interesting. In the first ward, the program was awesome and very cool, but we had to leave for part of it to go to the other ward's Missionary Coordination meeting. However, we didn't know we weren't holding it that Sunday, so we just talked with the rep. from the Relief Society who also didn't know it wasn't being held. Anyway, we got back in for the closing part of the program, but we missed two of the talks that, from the snippets I heard, seemed like they would have been really cool to hear. But we didn't have any investigators in that ward, so oh well. Anyway, moving on to the next ward. Wow. We had three investigators there, which was awesome!
Anyway, to make a long story at least a little shorter, we met with the couple we are teaching and the cool thing of the story was that last night she told us that she prayed like we had told her to doabout a difficult situation she had when she went to church and felt no one spoke to her and she got an answer! She said the Lord basically told her to not worry about what other people thought of her, that the purpose she goes to church is to worship Him, not others, and that she should go out of her way to introduce herself to people if people don't introduce themselves to her. It was cool to hear that, but it was also apparent that she had been upset by events. So...trials and tests. We testified to them that if they'll keep coming (which they said they plan to) they'll have better experiences and they'll feel the Spirit and be edified. It was so cool to hear Joelene speak last night! She spoke for probably close to half of the time! It was awesome! Aside from that, things are progressing along with others. I would ask that you all just pray for them and our other investigators.
Anyway, enough of that. We're doing our best and trying to find new people all of the time! We're hopefully going to get a referral from a member who's shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with her friend. Yay!
Anyway, things are going relatively well. I still get stressed sometimes and worry way too much, but I'm doing what I can. I hope all of you are doing well and that life is sweet! I hope to hear from y'all soon!
Take care and I LOVED the tape! I love y'all!
-Elder Michael Starks
P.S. When am I going to get another tape?! Jill and Kaycee both said that they were going to be making another one soon...and that was back in Feb! Also, I LOVE the pictures! Sweet Bluebonnets! Press one and send it to me! I love y'all! I'm glad to hear y'all are all doing well!
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