Last Week of the Transfer??

  Mom and Dad, thank you so much for being a wonderful example of tithing. There are so many people that we teach (less actives, actives, investigators) who have such an issue with tithing. Thank you for always willingly paying tithing and teaching me to do so also. These people are forbidding blessings to come to them that God is waiting to pour on them. It breaks my heart.

          We had the baptism for Sabre yesterday. She is soooo adorable. She asked me to give the talk on "baptism" and I think it went well. That makes her whole family members!
          We met some interesting people yesterday. There is a man who lives in Acton (agua dulce area) who lives in a tree house. Seriously. But it is HUGE and covers several plots of land. It is so tight. He was an investigator before and we visited him to see if we could teach him the lessons again. He also gave us a copy of his book "Hollywood Unlisted" ... It is not in the approved Missionary Library, and probably shouldn't be hahaha.
          One of my favorite parts of this week was finally getting to paint my nails! It is little things, ya know? Haha. But really the little things do count and add up to big things. Just like it says in Alma 37:6-7. If we are doing the LITTLE THINGS, like prayer, church, reading scriptures, GREAT THINGS can come to pass! Too many times I want results NOW and then I just have to realize that it is the little things that will make miracles happen.
                            Have a lovely week, all!        

                            Sister Heidi Jayne Starr*    

10-17-10 Baptism  - Sister Larsen, Kenny Maler, and Me

10-24-10 Baptism - Sabre and Me

MoMenTs oF THe WeEK

"Do you know what a prophet is?" ... "Yeah a profit is how much money you make..." I swear with everyone we talk to, everyone has a different idea of what prophet is. But this one was the funniest.
Sooooooo, yesterday I forgot my Name Tag. TALK ABOUT FEELING NAKED! And it was the worst possible day to forget it. Not only did we have a baptism, but I also gave the prayer in church! I wanted to sleep in it, I missed it so much!
We just had a new man move into our ward. We went over to get to know him and his wife. He was the ward mission leader in another ward in the stake. What makes this man unique? He is married to a Jehovah's Witness! Oddest couple, right? We talked to them for a while and learned about her religion. It was very interesting. I am glad she felt comfortable enough to open up to us. This was also the same night that we had 3 desserts. We go over to see a family and they are having dessert! And it would be rude to say no, so we indulge... but we totally felt sick by the end of the night. Everyone is so nice!
More from Sunny (and getting chilly!) Southern California next week!  Sister Starr*

Moment of the Week

There is this investigator who has "playback tones" when you call her, like Carrie Underwood, or Flo Rider etc... Unfortunately she is avoiding us ... But fortunately when you call her we get to hear a GOOD portion of the song before it hits her voice mail. SCORE! hahahaha.
During Companionship Inventory (like a mini session that alleviates anything that is going wrong and evaluates the good/ bad and helps you set goals), Sister Larsen says, "touch is not really how I receive love..." hahahahahahahah! This is definitely a problem because it is completely how I show love. Who knew every time I randomly rubbed her arm/ leg/ hand ETC I was making her feel uncomfortable instead of loved! We compromised and said that we would briefly hug before bed each night and high five during the day. lol.
There are some members here that are SOOOO FABULOUS. I want to be just like them. They are willing to help at the drop of a hat. They let us teach investigators in their home, pick up investigators for church, call people to come to our lessons with us, just everything! They are so amazing. It hurts my heart at how willing people are to serve. I want to give them baskets of goodies or something. But then I realize that Heavenly Father will bless them more than I ever could. Goodness. It means so much to us as missionaries because this work is not ours alone, it is a joint effort with the members. Some of them just GET it. I LOVE THEM!
Lastly I saw this quote in a members home and loved it:
"Who cares about love, I'd rather fall in chocolate."
-Sister Heidi Jayne Starr*
(also, If any of you have any favorite conference talks, if you could comment and let me know. I would love to read them!

Sister Starr and her 1st Companion - Sister Larsen

P-Day!

Hello everyone! This week was very interesting! My trainer had to go to some training for 3 days, so I was able to serve with the Spanish Sisters! It was fun, considering I don't really know Spanish.  But I now know quite a bit considering what I knew before! We have quite a few progressing investigators here in Agua Dulce and Ana Verde. One of our investigators is getting baptized on the 17th, and if another stops smoking, he will be baptized on Sunday. We have another baptism scheduled for the 24th as well. We are staying very busy! Each morning we wake up at 6:30, go running while watching the sun rise and then get ready for the day. We then study the scriptures for an hour and then plan for who we are teaching. After that we go out to our appointments! We try to have an appointment scheduled for every hour of the day. If someone cancels, we go visit their neighbors and share with them a message about Jesus Christ. We tell them that just like in the bible with Abraham or Adam, there is a Prophet TODAY and Christ's Church has been restored! Many people say "you're kidding?!" we say nope! And they want to learn more. They want to learn more psh because it is true! And because we tell them that we aren't here to convince them, we want them to find out for themselves by reading and praying. Some don't want to learn more, and we try back later once the Lord has prepared their hearts. It rocks. I'm telling you, IT ROCKS! The only thing that doesn't is the ANTS! They suck. Seriously. THERE ARE SO MANY ANTS! I pray every day for the ants to die. Is that a righteous desire of my heart that I can pray about? I think so...

Have a wonderful week everyone!  Sister Starr*