Feliz Aniversario!

Roses are red,
Violets are blue
Mom and Dad....this letter is especially for you!

All is well in the mission, there's no need to worry
So today I want to talk about a very special date, November 30

On Saturday you'll celebrate 23 years of love, trials, and laughter
So for my letter home this week, I just want to say how grateful I am to be
your daughter

I've been without you guys 8 months now and it hasn't been so easy
But I'm able to be away because we'll be together for eternity

How my parents met? It's quite funny, you know
My dad receieved the call to serve and off he went to Colorado

He went to preach the gospel and bring others unto Christ
And in return the Lord blessed him, in finding a beautiful wife

To be married in the temple meant inside there would be little ceremony
But thankfully they married in Manti, thinking about their future family

First came their love, and then their marriage
Then came baby Jessicah in the baby carriage

Dad studied all day and worked hard mopping floors all night
And then slept through Disney movies with me, but hey, that's all right :)

My cute momma waited tables at the famous restaurant JBs
Then spent the rest of her time playing dress up, baby dolls, and of
course, barbies

Counting the stairs in french with Daddy was our favorite thing to do
We laid in bed counting magical spiders on the ceiling, too

Holding hands and singing to our very own beat
Mom and I would skip sidewalks all the way to 7/11 for treats

My mom and dad were perfect, in my 3 year old sight
They taught me how to say my prayers and to always choose the right

I don't remember much, but I do know I was happy
Especially when three more joined our little family

Homemade Halloween costumes, Barney repeats and birthday parties at chuck e
cheese
They taught me how to work hard, play harder, and to always follow my dreams

So then I grew up and was a bratty teenager instead of a sweet little kid
But their love never ended for me even when my childhood did

Dance competitions and football games, they supported me through it all
Car accidents, math homework, they would always pick me up when I would fall

They took me to seminary bright and early at 5:50am
And although our family nights were crazy, we always tried to have them

Life wasn't perfect, but it was pretty great
Mom took a million pictures of me and my first date

Vacations to Wyoming and spring break trips to Disneyland
And when I graduated high school, they were there for me, my number one fans

I spent my first semester away from them in the freezing cold snow
Studying and making new friends up at BYU Idaho

And not a day passed by without a text from my sweet mom
She always made me feel alright when everything felt wrong

Words can't express how grateful I am for my amazing Dad
Who helped me pay for school and was willing to sacrifice all that he had

But they did it without thinking and sometimes without a "thank you"
So mama and fabs, you'll never know how grateful I am for all that you do

They taught me to remember who I am and let me make my own mistakes
And not just through their words, but their examples which are so great

I'll never forget how they supported me when I made the decision to serve a
mission
Dad helped me with all the appointments and paper work until I had
everything I was missing

We had to go to LA and wait in painfully long lines
But you better believe we made it to the post office at exactly 4:59!

And when I thought modest mission clothes were absolutely impossible to find
My mom stayed up all night shopping for me online

After a hard day with the missionaries and I didn't know if I could handle
Costa Rica
Mommy told me things would be better in the field because everything is
PURA VIDA

They love me so much, enough that I could never doubt it
Hugging my mom at the finish line of our half marathon was absolutely
priceless

After my first session at the temple, I'll never forget the sight
How I felt to walk through the veil and see my mom and dad waiting for me
all in white

So the day finally came, April 3rd, hard to believe
I had to say goodbye to them for a while at the curb of the provo MTC

But packages every week, my mother always knew
Brownies and goodies can always solve the homesick blues

Of all the elders in my district, I saw a little jealousy in their eyes
When we got mail delivered and I had dear elders from them every single
night

I don't think they quite understand just how much I love their letters
They mean the entire world to me and I will cherish them forever

And not a Monday passes when I don't hear from them
My Dad even google earths me to find out where I live

And when I have a hard day here and I feel like I just cannot go on
I literally feel comforted through their prayers and get special hugs from
"mom"

The Lord always blesses me with his tender mercies and blessings
This week I had tortilla soup, just like moms, the kind we always have
around Thanksgiving

I don't know just quite how to explain it, but believe me when I say
Being a missionary has made my love and appreciation for my parents grow
stronger every day

Maybe it's because I've seen families who aren't so fortunate
To have such great parents like mine who are so wonderful and compassionate

During the holidays I miss them the most but am so happy to say
I know I'm meant to be here and I will see them again someday!

The happiest of anniversary to the best parents in all the world
I love and miss you guys so very much, more than you'll ever know!

Your "princess", your "Jecca brat", and all in between
Talk to you next Monday, from your computer screen:)

Love,

Your favorite missionary;)

Mormon Helping Hands..... We had to clean up a Cemetary... Kind of a little freaky

Peace and Blessings!

Dear all,

As much as I love Cost Rica (and you must believe me, I love it) I have
been a little sad this week. Why? Becuase I miss my happy American holidays!


No 4th of July...

No Pioneer Day...
No halloween...

And now, NO THANKSGIVING! But no worries, because more than any other
Thanksgiving before, my heart is filled with so much to be thankful for.

This time of the year always makes me think of one of my favorite hymns:
 *When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,*
 *When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,*
 *Count your many blessings; name them one by one,*
 *And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. …*
  *So amid the conflict, whether great or small,*
 *Do not be discouraged; God is over all.*
 *Count your many blessings; angels will attend,*
* Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.*

So today in my letter, I would like to count my many blessings, for all the
things I am so grateful for!

Prayer. Here in Costa Rica I don't have my cell phone. Nope, I don't have
facebook either. I can't call up my mom when I need advice. But what I can
do is get on my knees and have instant commmunication with my Heavenly
Father. He has been my best friend here. He knows what it's really like. He
understands me, and listens. I am so grateful for the power of prayer. I
know it's real. And I will never let a day in my life pass without it.

Hot Showers. Have you ever taken an ice cold shower everyday for 7 months
straight? I have. But I have some happy news...things have changed...WE
HAVE HOT WATER HERE. Actually, it's more like warm. But that's just fine, I
am soooo grateful for it. Yep, just another perk of the promised land of
Ciudad Colon.

Mamas cookin. I miss it sooooo stinkin' much. I learned this lesson in
College, but here with all the crazy different foods, I have grown to
appreciate how much it means to me to have a delicious home made meal by
my amazing mother. And chocolate chip cookies for dessert ;)

The Book of Mormon. I have always believed in this book my whole life. My
mom read me pages from the giant orange Book of Mormon for kids with little
summaries and fun pictures during breakfast. My Dad dragged me out of bed
every morning to learn and read from it's pages at seminary. I read it for
the first time cover to cover when I was 18 so I could get my necklace. But
more then just believing in this book, I now know with all my heart it's
true. And also how important it is. The spirit has testified this to me
over and over again. I see it's power as I watch peoples lives change
through simply reading from it's pages. The stories fascinate me. The
prophets inspire me. I love and cherish every page. I am so grateful for
every sacrifice that was made so that I could enjoy this book.

My mission President. He is incredible. We had a multi zone conference with
him this week and changed my entire perspective and thinking as a
missionary. In fact, it changed my life. I was taught and uplifted in so
many ways and it was a very special experience for me. I know there are so
many things I need to change about myself and I am also so grateful that
through the atonement it's possible to change. It's possible to become better
and become the person my Heavenly Father expects me to be. Sometimes I feel
afraid that I am not going to live up to my potential as a missionary or
that I am going to miss out in finding all the people I am supposed to find
but I think those feelings are what help me to work harder. And what leave
me never feeling satisfied in the work.

My companion. Hermana H. Gosh dang it, I love the girl. We spend half the day
laughing and can never get to bed because we always stay up chatting. She
loves this work and I know that we were meant to be companions. I also
found out last night that she is DEATHLY afraid of bugs. I dont know how
after being here for almost a year. But she started screeeeeeaaaaaaaming
and running around the apartment when she found a giant centipede in her
bed. Oh the joys of Costa Rica!

My family. I miss you all. You don't understand how grateful I am for every
single letter and email. Your words mean the world to me. So thankful to
have the best family a girl could ever have. I don't know what I did to
deserve you guys!? But I sure am grateful.

The list goes on and on and on but for now I wish you all the happiest
Thanksgiving and black friday. Which actually DOES exist here. Viernes
negro. Ha!

XOXO,
Count your blessings,
Hermana Starke :)

Beverly Hills

Dear all,

So I see that everyone got married or had a birthday this past
week...congrats to all!

Meanwhile I am here living the LIFE in Costa Rica. And when I say living
the life, I mean spending my P days window shopping at the mall and eating
at Chilis. That's right, I ate some chilis chips and guac today. And you
better believe I am the happiest missionary there ever was.

So, I have secretly named Ciudad Colòn the "Beverly Hills" of Costa Rica.
Why? Because it's full of mountains, mansions, hills, and lots of money. My
life is literally like the Weezer song:

"Beverly Hills, that's where I wanna be,
 Livin in Beverly Hills
 Beverly Hills, rollin like a celebrity!"

There really is no other place I would rather be, here in Costa Rica
serving the Lord.  And as for the celebrities, the president of Costa Rica
lives just down the street. No, it's more like up the street because she
lives in this giant house on the top of the mountain. But I am just praying
missionaries will find her one day. Ha! Also, Will Smith and his son lived
here in the Sheraton Hotel while filming the movie "After Earth". Can't wait
to watch it after the mish just to be able to look at all the beautiful
green Costa Rica!

As for my week, it was incredible. I wore a sweater everyday. Remember
those cute cardigans you bought me Mom? Well I am sure you will be happy to
know I was finally able to pull them out of my suitcase. The weather is
cool and amazing here and I find myself saying "yo tengo frio" todos los
dìas! Isn't that great?

And I don't know if the members are just super nice or if it's true, but they
all compliment me on my Spanish. They say I barely have an accent and their
jaws drop when I tell them I have only been in Costa Rica for 6 months.
Then they complain and say they have been trying to learn English all their
lives. I just tell them to serve missions and then they are entitled to
help from God. For reals, it's the only way I am able to do it! But I am
starting to LOVE Spanish. I think in Spanish. I dream in Spanish. And live
Spanish. It's actually been a bit of a struggle to write this letter!

This Friday we also had our first group night. I tried to make my own and
have lots of these activites in Orotina, but here it's much different. It's
something that our Stake President and Mission President have been working
on and planning for the past 3 months. Ciudad Colòn was chosen to test them
out, and if we have success they are going to be used in all of Costa Rica.

It's basically an activity that is held in the house of a member in hopes to
reactive less actives, find new investigators and move the work forward.
Members bring friends, we bring the people we are teaching and everyone is
uplifted. In a happy, normal environment, our investigators can get to know
the members of the church. We have spiritual thought, play games, and eat.
It went really well and Hermana Hernandez told me that these group nights
are part of the reason I was sent here to help make them happen and
successful. Heck yeah, I am always down for a party!

Our stake president shared a message about the Love of God and then looked
at me to explain the game. What. I had no idea I was in charge of the game.
Luckily I stood up and explained a game I learned at efy. YAY FOR EFY! Oh
and guess what, Hermana Hernandez was an efy counselor in El Salvador
before the mission. Obviously we are having the best time together.

Saturday night the bishop called me to give a talk the next morning and so
I was praying for a miracle that what I would say would motivate the ward
to help us in the work. And sure enough come Sunday morning, the miracles
came through because we had 11 investigators come to church! That's more
than I have ever had in my mission. Just goes to show that when you have
the help of the members, it makes a world of a difference.

Sooooo many people are willing to help. It's amazing. Coming from a place
with little help, this is like Christmas to me and I asked my comp why we
weren't using them more! Because that's where we really have success. We came
up with goals and plans to make the members more involved in the work.
Because many are willing they just don't know how. We assigned 2 or 3
members to each one of our investigators to call them, love them, and
support them. The results have been great.

We also play basketball every Saturday and invite the whole world, then
after the game we tell them to come back in the morning for church ;)

My companion has also taught me a powerful lesson this week...the
importance of loving those you serve. I always knew this was important and
have tried to implement it in the work but I don't think I fully understood
why until now.

This week we have painted nails, helped clean, helped cook, and just spend
time with both the members and our investigators. And it really works
miracles. It's not wasting time because once they have a relationship with
you and trust you, the investigators will become converts, and the members
will give reference and their time. It's something that I feel is so crucial
in missionary work, yet so many missionaries think it's all about numbers,
lessons and baptisms.

Before Hermana Hernandez came to this area there had not been a single
baptism in a year and half. So what changed? Serve the members. Love your
investigators.

I am just so happy and busy that I barely have time to think about anything
else other than the work. We have well over the mission goal of 30 lessons
a week and almost half are with members. I really feel like I am fulfilling
my purpose as a missionary. I love my companion with all my heart. And miss
you, fam! But we can be together forevs. So no worries :)

XO
Hna Starke

The Book of Hermana Starke

Chapter 1

Hermana Starke begins the record of her people—She praises God, foretells the coming of the Messiah— She leaves the city of Orotina and goes up to the land of Ciudad Colòn —She is relieved from her sore trials and rejoices exceedingly. About 2013 A.D.

1 I, Hermana Starke, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days in Orotina, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.

2 And it came to pass that the Lord decided that I, Hermana Starke, had suffered long enough, and had endured long enough. Therefore He did send forth two elders, and they did call me Tuesday night.

3 And it came to pass that they did sing praises unto me saying: Na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!

4 Therefore I, Hermana Starke, being obedient in all things, did hear these words and did pack my things. For behold, I knew the Lord was preparing great and mighty plans for me.

5 And it came to pass that I did take my belongings and I did go up into the land of San José. Yea, and it was very early, even 5am. Nevertheless I was blessed with much help.

6 For behold, there were many Costa Ricanites who saw my white skin. And they did also see my three large suitcases. And they did seek to help me. For the intentions of their hearts were for riches. All manner of gold and of silver. Yea, for all the Costa Ricanites believe the gringanites possess much money.

7 And after much traveling I did arrive in San José, and I did meet my new companion, Hermana Hernandez. And we did instantly become the best of friends.

8 For Hermana Hernandez did leave the land of El Salvador at 19 years of age and had been preaching 10 months in Costa Rica and had baptized many. Therefore, she had seen the power of the gospel change the hearts of many men. And yea, she was an exceedingly great and powerful missionary.

9 And we two did go up together to a rich and beautiful area. And it was called Ciudad Colón. And it was named Ciudad Colón after the manner of the people that lived there. For they were rich in abundance of all things; yea, even gold and silver and many fine things.

10 And it came to pass that I did see many mansions, and I did visit the homes of many. And they all offered me the finest food, and yea, my heart was filled with joy.

11 And it came to pass that my eyes did lay upon many great and spacious buildings. For behold, there were buildings of all sorts; yea, even a mall, movie theatre, walmart, and restaurants of all kinds. And it had been so long since my eyes had seen these things that I did weep and give thanks to the Lord, my God.

12 And we did visit the ward members, and they did receive me with love. For behold, it was a ward. And the church was strong, and they did follow the commandments of the Lord; yea, and did offer me all sorts of things, even food, manicures, and massages. Yea, even a washer and dryer.

13 And it came to pass that I had forgotten that all of these things even existed. And again, my soul did rejoice.

14 For the members of the ward were powerful. And the church of God was filled will all manner of different people; yea, even the the stake president, a returned mission president and many returned missionaries. Yea, and they were all willing and ready to take part in the work of Salvation.

15 And it came to pass that so great were the numbers of references and baptisms that the Lord commanded that there should be no contacting. And so it came to pass that we did make high goals. And we did study hard, and teach all the day long, never forgetting the tender mercies of the Lord.

16 And my mind did often reflect on my many months in the city of Orotina, but I know that Hermana McArthur is the perfect person to take my place.

17 Yea, and there was never a more happier time in the mission of Hermana Starke. For I had been blessed in all things; yea, and thus I make an end of my writings. Amen.

 We went to the mall and had Costco-ish pizza for lunch and it was amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Wish we could hit the movies ;)

These are how the houses are here......... super nice

 my compa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!