Hermana Starke: Happy Birthday Jesus!

Dear friends,

Well... I made it! Thursday, April 3rd was my "birthday" here and I am now
1 year old in the mish! So how did I celebrate? Let me begin by telling you
what I had for lunch...

COW STOMACH.

No, not a juicy in n out hamburger. Not even a nice, sweet mango. But the
apetizing inside of a cow. I know mom and dad, its hard to believe I put
the stomach of another animal, into my own. But hey, pura vida! Right?

So after eating my little cow delight, I decided how much my life has
changed in the past year. And I have come to the conclusion that you know
you have been in the Costa Rica mission for a year IF:

You eat weird things on a daily basis, but they become normal. Chips with
rice. Cow's stomach. Fruit with salt. Pig feet soup. It works.

Stares are completely normal. You have learned to just smile and say hola.
And instead of the usual "take a picture it'll last longer!" comment... you
say, "take a pass a long card, it'll change your life!"

As you sit waiting for your bus to arrive, you lean your head against the
pole and then find a big fat wad of bubble gum in your hair. But hey, you're
in Costa Rica. So pura vida.

All your best friends at home got married without you. Everyone you know is
engaged, married or pregnant. And you happily get all the invites that have
NO return envelope or address. Cause everyone knows you're not actually
going to come...

You understand the importance of finding new investigators everyday!
Because let's be honest, they're not all shiny and gold like we wish they
were. In fact, they are more likely, silver, plastic, and usually catholic.

You realize that friday nights are a bit different here. We have
"appointments" rather than dates. But you learn to look forward and love
Mondays rather than hatin' on them like the rest of the world.

You also realize that you have suddenly developed separation anxiety when
your companion is in the bathroom or leaves the room for 2 seconds. You
freak out and go into panic mode when you find yourself alone.

General conference is like the SUPER BOWL!

Our General Conference Lunch

You occasionally forget words in English. And would just rather talk in
Spanish anyways. You think, dream, and sleep talk in Spanish. So great.

You have basically forgotten how to drive. What does it feel like? I just
can't remember... it's been so long... I vaguely remember those things called
cars...

You got the bus schedule DOWN. You know your way around San Jose. You are a
pro at doing the math and figuring out what you THOUGHT was monopoly money
at first. Being squished in a crowded bus doesn't nearly freak you out as
much as the first time, 1 year ago. In fact, it's normal. It's comfortable.
And it's your life.

You have now memorized the words to just about every church hymn ever
written and only have efy music stuck in your head.

You have filled up 4 journals and think of life in periods of 6 weeks.

Your first name is Hermana. Your last name is Starke. Who is Jessicah?

Your knees are the weirdest, whitest looking part of your body and you have
decided to never show them again. Hahaha

You hair is DEAD from the sun. And your feet are covered in fun callouses
because they know they have to walk all. day. long.

Your stomach magically finds room for 3 dinners. It's truly a miracle.

Even though you have gotten pretty good at it, you understand that bible
bashing is just a waste of time and it wont get you anywhere.

You cherish the words of the scripture in D&C 18, "And if it so be that
you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and
bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in
the kingdom of my Father!"

And one of those souls for me and my companion is Reina. Her name means
Queen. And let me tell you, she doesn't fall from anything short from
being one.

Let me just tell you about the first time I visited her way back in
November. Her son, Santos, is a member and we went to celebrate his
birthday. I had already eaten 2 dinners for the day and so I politely
declined her food. Big mistake. She was completely offended and didn't talk
to me for the rest of the night. Ooops.

The next time I saw her was in January when she showed up to Erika's
baptism. I was quite surprised, knowing from Santos she doesn't support the
church at all, so I chatted a little bit with her and asked her if she
would like to learn more about what Erika's baptism meant. She said yes, and
I got her number.

I went home and found her in the teaching records. I discovered that Santos
had been bringing missionaries to try to convert her for the past 3 years
since he was converted himself. Hmm, I thought. We`ll give it a try.

In February we made an appointment with her one Tuesday at 4pm.
Unfortunately our district meeting ran late and we had to call and cancel.
When we called she told us in a very unhappy manner that we were not ever
again welcome in her home for the lack of curtousy. She had cleaned the
entire house and was expecting our arrival. Ahhhhhh. We felt horrible. So
we rushed home, took a taxi, bought her a loaf of bread, and went to the
house to give her an apology. Expecting the worst, we knocked on the door
and her daughter let us in. It was 4:25pm. There she was. Sitting in her
chair with a the most angy face I have ever seen. Arms folded. Legs
crossed. I wanted to burry myself in the ground and never come out...
Luckily she let us sing, pray and share a quick message. We taught baptism.
She told me she would NEVER get baptized in the mormon church. Have you
read the book of mormon? I asked her. NO! And then she told us not to
mention the name Joseph Smith in her home. She hated him and began to list
off all the things she didn't like about us, the church, and the prophets.

We testified, cleared up all her wrong assumptions, invited her to church,
and got out of there.

Then a miracle. A MIRACLE happened......she came.

So we followed up. Kept visiting here and there. We kept teaching and she
began to read the book of mormon. Then she began to read a lot of it. And
began to pray about it. And kept coming to church.

A few weeks later, she accepted a baptismal date, April 6th. We were in
awe. And so was Santos. When we told him, he explained that it wasn't
likely, she still drank coffee, and didn't have a testimony. So we got to
work. But mostly just prayed for her and loved her. That's all people need.
Someone to believe in them. Someone to love them. Once we gained her trust
(which was NOT an easy task) she started to open up her heart to us and we
were able to teach to her needs. To help her in a very personal way. And to
be able to help her understand the beauty of the true gospel.

We taught word of wisdom SUPPPPERRR POWERFUL and she gave up coffee. I
bought her oatmeal to drink (yes, people drink oatmeal here, it's delicious)
and she flat out told me she hated the selection of oatmeal and threw it
away. Haha thanks Reina, I love you for your honesty.

She was reading the BOM like a wild woman and even had dreams where Nephi
was talking to her. He told her to keep reading and she would get her
answer. We were patient.

In our lessons she offered some of the sweetest, purest, and most humble
prayers. Prayers I will never forget.

So she progressed and kept reading and April 6th got closer. She called us
the day of her baptismal interview and said she wasn't gonna go through with
it, but then we prayed and Heavenly Father affirmed to us that this was her
day. So we showed up to her house anway and she had her interview. She
wasn't too thrilled but two and a half hours later, Elder Alvarez walked out
waving the pink baptismal register! We hugged. And cried. It was magical.
It was a miracle.

So Sunday, Santos was able to finally baptize his mom and we gave Jesus a
birthday present by baptizing one of his beautiful, crazy, daughters. Who
had the hardest heart for 52 years of her life, but through the power of
the book of mormon, and the spirit, she changed. God has a special and perfect
timing for all his childen. He loves us so much.

I love Reina so much. And I love being apart of this work :)
Hermana Starke