Week 3 MTC: Christmas in the MTC

Dear family,

This will be a shorter email because my companion injured his knee, and we were in the doctor’s office during some of our computer time. Luckily it’s nothing too bad. Life here is good. I've made lots of good friends. So today I did laundry and went to the temple. Then I got a haircut and played Frisbee. So that’s about it for today.

Okay, so Christmas Eve we had a bunch of singing and stuff, which was great. On Christmas morning all the senior missionaries came down and sang to us and we sang back to them. They gave us little gift baskets, which was super nice. We had French toast for breakfast and that was super good. We had an awesome devotional from a seventy, named Elder Cornish. He has a 29-year old son named Reed who has Down syndrome.  He is incredibly high functioning and he played sports with us! Anyway, then we had lunch and another devotional by the area 70 and his family. It was super sweet. Then more singing and dinner. After dinner, we had the best devotional of my life by David A. Bednar. It was a live broadcast from the Provo MTC. Dad, I really think you should find it and show it to new missionaries or even the priest quorum. It answered like a dozen different prayers I've been having!!! Anyway, then we did a white elephant gift exchange where I got an air horn. It might be useful out in the field, but I don’t think I can use it in the MTC... I’m out numbered in here!  We finished the day with Christ videos. It was a super awesome day!!

 I just wanted to let you all know how much you mean to me. Dad you are my inspiration and my biggest fan. Thank you! Mom, all you did for back home means the world to me now that I'm away. I love you so much! Jake, you are my role model. Thank you for being my big brother! Owen, I miss my best friend. Stay strong buddy! Mary, I love you sooo much. Make sure you don't get too sassy! And Henry, stay happy buddy. You are the coolest kid ever! Merry Christmas everybody.

Love you so much!

 Elder Stark

Week 2 MTC: Friendly hearts!

Hey Mom and Dad,

The cold sounds awesome!!!! It is blazing hot here, and I am sweaty all the time! MTC life is good though. My Spanish is getting better too. I had to say goodbye to a bunch of my friends who are from Haiti. They left this week, but that’s okay. I told you that the Haitians use journals as yearbooks. I had a bunch of them ask to sign my journal, but instead of using my journal, I gave them a little notebook and they signed that. One of the Haitian sister missionaries put a bunch of hearts in her note. At first I got a little freaked out, but I think they were just friendly hearts. Haha! Funny stuff.

 I’m glad you are helping out the elders, Dad. That’s awesome. Oh, guess what! We just got an elder here from Nicaragua and he told me that he knows Jake!!! Small world!!

I’m really enjoying it here. I miss you guys a lot. Sorry, I’m not the

best about doing long letters. I will get better, but there just isn’t much time.

As for you questions:

           

• ·      I will be able to call at 1:30 our time. Not sure about the time difference, but I’m sure you can do the math. It will only be for about 15 minutes.
• ·      For P-day today, I played Frisbee; its my absolute favorite.
• ·      My typical day goes like this- wake up, eat, study, teach, eat, study more, study again, eat, teach, study. Repeat. It's a long day, but I'm used to hard work so I'm doing fine with it. 

I love you guys,

Elder Stark

Week 1 MTC: Guess what? I like rice and beans and chicken!

Hey Mom and Dad,

I’m glad to know that you are all doing good, apart from the sickness. I only have 45 minutes to email. My P-days are on Thursdays. I'm doing great in the CCM. The days are starting to blend together, but each day feels so long. It’s really hot here. Like 80 degrees, all the time! But I like it.

It’s really good here, just learning Spanish, which can be tough. My companion is Elder P and we get along okay. My district is pretty cool. There is one trio and three companionships and one Hermana. I’ve become pretty good friends with two guys; Elder S from California and Elder B from Pocatello, Idaho. They are both really cool guys. I get along with most of the guys in my group also. Oh, and by the way, I have a few Haitian friends here too. Elder J is probably my favorite. The Haitians are really cool. They like to use their journals as yearbooks and have people sign them. So I've had probably four Haitians ask me to write in their journals.

Also, I am eating well. It turns out I love rice and beans and chicken. Who knew! :) Anyway, I don’t eat everything, but I eat enough that I am never hungry. Plus, yesterday, I didn’t eat some soup they had. Now everyone is sick, but me. I guess pickiness is a blessing sometimes. And no, they don’t have hot chocolate here, but they have really good juice. It’s muy bueno!

 I am learning Spanish both slowly and quickly at the same time. I can understand very well, but speaking is a challenge. Yesterday, I was teaching a mock investigator in Spanish and I committed him to baptism. Pretty sweet! So far, in Spanish, I can pray, bear my testimony and to some extent talk to people. Pretty nuts! Throughout the day, I probably spend an hour plus praying. In each prayer, I make sure to include you guys back home and ask for the gift of tongues. I really love you guys.

I love you all and I miss you. And, yes, encourage the ward to do missionary work. Talk about the wonderful blessings that go along with this great work. I love you and hope things are good at home. I enjoy it here a lot, and can't wait for Christmas so I can call you. 

Love you lots,

Elder Stark

P.S. I don’t know if I'm allowed to use Dropbox here at the CCM. The President isn't here for me to ask him, so I’ll have to send pictures another day.

I'm here and I'm safe

Hey mom and dad,

I am now at the MTC (here it's called the CCM). I'm doing really good. I got all my bags and everything! There are nine of us that came today. I don't remember my comp's name because I only talked to him once, but all of the guys seem cool. There is one sister and we are all making jokes and having a good time. I can't wait for classes, but I am very tired. Driving here was super weird; we ran a red light and there was trash everywhere. It is super hot here and I was sweating bullets. I'm super tired, but doing good. Also I think that I gave out the wrong email to people. I said it was .com instead of .net. Yeah..., a classic Bailey! Anyway our P-day is on Tuesday, so that's when I'll next email you. That's awesome that Owen won his match. Bet he's super happy. 

Love,

Elder Stark

Leaving Home

Elder Bailey Stark left home today. He has a long day of travel with layovers in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Miami. He is traveling to the MTC in the Dominican Republic. His flight left at 5:30 AM, which meant that the alarm clock went off at 3:30. Ouch! As a sweet parting gift, we woke up to the first snowfall of winter. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Bailey to be able to say he woke up to snow, and will fall asleep in the Caribbean. At the airport, we ran into another family sending their son to the Philippines.  It was nice to see Bailey make an instant connection. Luckily, they had the same flight to Minneapolis, and it was reassuring to watch them leave security together, both looking a little nervous. Bailey called on his first layover and said that a very nice man on their flight helped both Bailey and this other missionary find their next gates. Already, the Lord is sending angels to watch over him. We went to the temple yesterday, which was the best. Last night he was able to say many good-byes, and we had a few precious moments at the airport this morning. I miss him already, but this is exactly where Elder Bailey Stark is supposed to be.