Hermana Starke: 17 Miracles

Family!!!

Not to fear, I am still alive and happy and well over here in CR. Sorry for
the worry! Our zone had the opportunity to attend the temple today so our P
day got changed.

Sad news is, I only have about 30 minutes instead of the normal hour and a
half because we spent most of our day traveling. So this email is going to
be short and sweet.

So as I said, we went to the temple today and I bought the movie 17
miracles (In Spanish, obv) and we are going to watch it tonight with some
recent converts for family night!

As I was thinking about this movie and how much I love it, I decided it
could apply to my life right now as a missionary! Because I see and witness
miracles all the time. So today I want to tell you about the 17 miracles of
my week.

1. We found people to teach!
The 15th of Sept was the Independance day here in CR, but they don't just
party on the 15th. They party hard all week with candles and parades and
dancing and bands. So it was a miracle this week that we could actually
find people to listen to us.

2. CR won!
Well this week was also the BIG GAME between USA and CR in soccer and
people go crazy over this stuff here. I mean loco! CR won and people were
running through the streets screaming and I was just like, "ok now who wants
to hear about Jesus?!".

3. I didn't gain 10 pounds
Well this week everyone was celebrating, and my comp and I thought we
should celebrate too. Ya know what I'm sayin? So we bought a giant chocolate
cake and ate it between the 2 of us. Don't judge.

4. We were saved
The heat is the worst in the mornings. So when we were walking to church
sweating our little guts out, Marcos and his family swooped by in their car
and picked us up. It was awesome. (Oh side note...gas is $8 a gallon here,
yiiikes! What is it in Cali these days?)

5. People actually came to church!
37 to be exact...people take their Independance celebrating preeettty
serious around here.

6. I talked for 20 minutes straight in ESPAÑOL BABY!
That's right. About 3 and a half min before church started, the presidente
over here asked me to speak. Ummm. So I spoke. With no notes, no index
cards and absolutely nothing prepared. Just me and the spirit, man! It was
scary but I did it. And people understood me! Hermana Macha (a member in
the rama) said she wishes that she could have recorded it and sent it to my
parents because they would be so proud :) To be honest, it was a great
experience because I was able to see how much I have grown since I gave my
first talk here when I first arrived. HEY! I'm really doin this, guys!

7. I really made a difference
Remember Mario that I met on the bus? Well if not, I met this guy Mario on
the bus one day after having a super strong feeling to talk to him. Turns
out he was less active. But guess what, not anymore! He faithfully comes to
church now every Sunday. Happy happy happy

8. Ireni is my hero
Ireni is a strong, awesome member of the branch. She has 3 littles and is
going through a super rough divorce. She isn't recieving the money she
deserves from her almost x-husband so things have been really hard lately.
This Sunday she only had enough money to pay for the bus ride to church,
but not back. Relying on her faith she decided to go to church anyway and
they would walk 2 hours home afterwards. After staying the full 3 hours of
church and teaching the 3rd hour class, Ireni and her kids started the walk
home. Her oldest son, 7 years old, kept begging her to check the card to
see if there was money. He said he just knew there would be something for
them! Just to make him happy, she checked it and almost like magic there
was 30 dollars on the card! With tears and smiles they were able to take
the bus ride home and enjoy the rest of their holiday together as a family.
She told us she felt like the mother from 17 miracles where food just
appeared out of no where along the difficult journey! It was the perfect
reminder she needed to know that Heavenly Father is fully aware of her
situation and will pour out miracles according to our faith.

9. I am learning oh so much
I learned how to cut grass with a machete. I guess that's how ya do it when
you aren't so blessed to sit on a machine and that does it for you. We
thought we would lend a helping hand and serve this family first like Ammon
in the BOM (Book of Mormon) to find some new investigators. Let's hope it works! (And that we don't have to cut off anybody's arms:)) We are gonna
visit them again next week :)

10. I kept down my seafood surprise
So, sweet Hermana Macha makes us din din every Sunday. This week it was
OCTOPUS SOUP! With a friendly side of squid, oyster, clams, and shrimp. I
dont know how I managed to eat it all. Really, this is the BIGGEST miracle
of all.

11. Tried somethin new
I drank milk this week. But no, not the regular milk. I had straight up
real, raw milk FROM THE COW and I actually liked it. This is coming from
the girl who made her parents pick out the green specks her top ramen.
Welp, I have come a loooongg way my friends.

12. I don't have a disease, yet.
It's dengue season apparently. Which is a disease from all the mosquitos.
You would think with the millions and millions of bites covering my legs I
would have gotten sick by now. But I haven't! It's a miracle!

13. I have the cutest investies
Aka investigators. Aka the 4 cutest girls that set up a whole table and
chair ordeal in the backyard complete with drinks and cookies ready for us
to come visit them and share the good word.

14. We went to the temple!
And it was amazing :) as usual. So blessed to have a beautiful temple in
the mission.

15. NO Rice and Beans

Mcdonalds is all over the world
Even here in CR :) and we happily enjoyed it on our 2 hour bus ride home!

16. Made it 5 months with the same umbrella
You can't go ANYWHERE here without your umbrella. It's an essential,
cant-leave-the-house-without-it item. And this week I got a new one! I was
sooooo excited about it. It's clean and shiny and purple. Free from holes
and months of usage. The material is strong and it was the best purchase
I've ever made in my life!

17. Made it an extra 3 days!
I look forward to my Mondays, gosh dang it. So it was a miracle I made it a
few extra days without hearing and talking to you guys :) but hey I gotta
pratice what I preach. Endure to the end, yeah?!

Love you alllllllllllll
Thanks for my 47 emails this week in the inbox :) you all are the best!

Hermana Starke

Here's a link to the movie trailer 17 Miracles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SResQFe35S8