Week 86: La Fe: A Bit Tough, but a Nice Birthday

Hey,

Well, this week has been a tough one. My companion is a really great guy; he is from one of the smaller Caribbean islands and has about a year and a half in the church. The only problem is that he has a physical disability with his leg and it’s been hurting him quite a bit to walk around all day. It’s been a bit hard on him in the mission. With his leg and the culture shock, it’s been a challenge for him, so we have been taking it really slow, but the only problem is that I can work as hard as I was before... Anyway, with all the pain he’s been in, we went and talked to the president and his wife. Today we went to the Caribbean mission doctor and got him checked up and the doctor said it’s possible that Elder T might have to get his mission call changed so that he could be in a mission with cars. I’m not sure when that’s going to happen, or if it will, but we will see. 

On a brighter note we have a baptism! Actually it’s a family. Cookie and Fabian! It a mother and her son, and, wow, they are probably my favorite investigators ever! First off, they are from Cuba! Cookie is thirty-two and Fabian is 11. They are the most golden investigators ever. They have so much love for the gospel. Every appointment with them is amazing and for my birthday they threw me a surprise party and got me a cake. But the best birthday present I got was that we filled out their baptismal records and the both asked if I would baptize them :) I love them so much! I’ll send some pictures. Anyway I am super excited for them to get baptized! Fabian told me that he wants to be a missionary and that he’s going to start saving all his money so that he can go! 

Anyway, my birthday was a lot of fun. Thanks everybody for your wishes. It means a lot. 

Elder Stark 

P.S. Are Jake and Anndi sleeping in my bed? If so, I want Owen's bed when I get back.

Note from the mother: No, Jake and Anndi are not sleeping in Bailey's bed. They have a new one. Bailey can have his own bed when he returns.

Week 85: La Fe: Ups and Downs

Dear Family,

Well this week has been interesting. I can’t write everything for sake of time, but it’s had a lot of ups and downs. Finally, this p-day I had time to relax. I have been praying a lot for all of the investigators and really focusing on them so that they can progress.  Training has its challenges, but it’s also a lot of fun. Lots of stress because it’s been hard for him to get used to the mission, so that makes it hard on me. I’ve just been trying to lead by example and not think of myself at all- to forget my self completely. 

We have the investigators of Cookie and Fabian that are about to jump into the waters of baptism. They are so prepared! Sorry I don’t have time this week. See you guys next week!

Elder Bailey Stark

Week 84: La Fe: I'm Training

Hey guys,

Well I’ve had quite a few adventures this week. So the first thing is that Elder V left. I was really sad to see him go because he was a very good friend. But anyway, with transfers I am now training. My new comp is another Caribbean islander named Elder T. He is a very cool guy from Santa Lucia and he has only been a member for a year and a half. He is the first missionary to leave from his branch in Santa Lucia. He is a very cool guy and we get along well. 

Everything is going great and the work is really progressing. Cookie and Fabio are progressing tons towards baptism and it’s going super great. Sorry I don’t have much time to write today, lots to do.

Love you all,

Elder Stark

P.S. I got my package and I totally love it, mom. I especially love the CTR ring. Thanks!! 

Week 83: La Fe: Look What We've Been Doing

Hey everyone,

I don't have much time today, but I will try to get back online later after we go bowling. I just wanted to show you what we have been up to.

Love,

Elder Stark

Week 82: La Fe: Building Muscle

Dear Family,

Wow, well what a week! You know when you are a missionary there are a lot of times when it gets rough and you just feel like going home, but its those moments when if you dig deep and work your butt off that you get the most success. Sort of like working out; you don´t actually start building muscle till it gets hard. Well, that’s how it was this week what with the 4th of July and Jake and Anndi getting married, but I didn’t let it get me down and I decided to just not think about it and work my butt off and wow, the results were crazy! 

First off, E. We got her baptismal interview taken care off and she is so excited to be baptized. She has just been glowing with the light of the gospel. She is so willing to change to grow closer to Christ.

A also got her baptismal interview done, and she too is ready to be baptized and will be getting baptized with E this Tuesday. We tried to get her husband to baptize her, but she didn’t want him to for some reason.

Another fun adventure that we had this week was that our zone is the one that goes on splits with the CCM (MTC in the DR) kids. So we get to the zone leader’s chapel and I get there and I see a bunch of missionaries come in. When I started talking to them in Spanish they all looked really confused, so I knew it was the CCM kids. There was one kid there though that went up to me and asked me if I had a brother named Jake. His name is Elder Ownsbey and he said that he’s Anndi´s cousin! It was a really fun split. We had some really great lessons and at the very end we had a super spiritual lesson with a family that we found and he bore powerful testimony and the spirit was definitely there and the family felt it!  Very good day!

Then the next and best part of the week was Cookie and Fabio. Just yesterday our bishop gave us a reference to one of his neighbors. So we set an appointment to pass by her house later that night and it was the most spiritual first lesson I have ever had! We brought the bishop’s wife over and just started out asking the woman and her son how they liked the church and what they felt. Her son Fabio absolutely loved it! He said that he wanted a Book of Mormon so that he could bring it to church like all the other kids in his class. The woman, her nickname is Cookie, also had a great experience and said that she has always been very shy, but that when she came to church she felt like she was with family. She is Cuban and has been missing her family but she felt at home in the church. She also felt a peace there that caught her attention. At the end of the lesson we placed a baptismal date with her and her son, and in her prayer at the end she asked for help that she could join the true church! I am very excited for them. And the best part is that their names are Cookie and Fabio! And they are Cuban! 

Also for the Fourth of July I think I might of broken the word of wisdom where it talks about not eating too much meat because I ate 2 burgers and in the night time I ate a huge steak and drank at least a gallon of coke throughout the whole day. Hahahah, but hey, it was the Fourth of July! 

Life is good here in the DR. Also a big shout out to Jake and Anndi. Felicidades hermanitos!  

Love,

Elder Stark

Week 81: La Fe: Ouch!!

Well, what a week! So I can’t remember when things happened, but we have had an eventful week. There was one day when we were walking home from lunch and as I was talking with my companion I ran into an electrical box that I didn’t even see. I hit the box hard! My companion was really worried that I had a concussion. Luckily I didn’t because I had to walk home, but as I ran my hands through my hair I realized that I had cut myself. As I walked back to the house everybody gave me a weird look. It turns out I was actually bleeding pretty badly, but it was funny seeing people faces as I walked back home! Anyway, it didn’t hurt too badly, so we went out to work and that same day we placed 2 baptismal dates!

One was with a very very nice lady named Alt. who lives in this tiny, tiny, tiny house. (Her whole house is probably 115 square feet. To get in you have to squeeze between a wall and a staircase and then walk down a tiny ally and climb through her bathroom to get to her house) It’s a bit crazy. But she is a very sweet old lady who never learned how to read, so the teaching is a bit slow, but she is progressing little by little

The other was a mujer joven (young woman) who is the grand daughter of a very strong member. The little girl’s name is M and she is a very sweet, helpful little girl. Her grandmother, Hermana Milagros has a son who is disabled. He is missing part of his brain and has some physical problems with his legs. His name is Cesar and he gets in bad moods a lot of the time and M is always at her grandmother’s house helping her with Cesar and cleaning. She is very shy and very intelligent and loves to learn, so it’s a lot of fun teaching her. She is 12.

We are also going crazy trying to coordinate the baptisms of E and A, but I think we are coming to the end and they are both ready! I am very excited to see them get baptized! They are both full of the joy of the gospel and it’s so cool that I can see the light of the gospel in their faces. They both have very distinct personalities, but the gospel only enhances the good parts of our lives and of who we are!

Well I’m very grateful for all the support.

Love you all,

Elder Stark